


When They Find Magic

by vive_la_revolution



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: And they are Isle kids, Child Abuse, Disabled Character, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, I mean it is the Isle, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Like actually DEALING w the trauma of the isle, M/M, Magic, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Trauma, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, Violence, You're Welcome, all characterization of uma and etc are based on fanfic, also auradon kids aren't brats, and the music videos on youtube, btw descendants 2 is irrelevant bc i haven't seen it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2020-03-29 16:56:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19024069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vive_la_revolution/pseuds/vive_la_revolution
Summary: Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos are a team. It's them against the world, and it feels like the whole world is against them. That is, until they're summoned to Auradon as a part of Prince Ben's initiative to save the Isle kids.However, there are a lot of unexpected results of the four finally being exposed to magic... Including the abrupt appearance of their soulmate's names on their wrists.





	1. Chapter 1

**First Sunday of August, 10:43 AM**.

Carlos DeVil was not someone you wanted to fuck with. Everyone underestimated him, and he let them, but when shit got real, that motherfucker knew how to pack a punch. Not to mention he was the damn cleverest boy on the whole island.

Jahd Scheherazade might be the most notorious thief on the isle, but what people forgot about the tall, well-muscled boy was that he rarely stole by force—he charmed his way into whatever he got, and he wouldn’t get so much if everyone wasn’t so fucking gullible.

Evie was Grimmhilde’s bitch, and she acted like it too. What most people didn’t realize was that, behind the thick makeup and batted eyelashes, there was magic so foreign and dangerous that even the isle’s boundaries struggled to contain it.

Maleficent was not _most people_. She was the wickedest witch to ever live, evil incarnate, the fucking queen of this miserable island, and mother to the most fiendish half-breed she would ever have the shame of giving birth to.

And she’d just been handed a ticket to freedom.

“Darlings,” she purred, “Let’s get you ready for Auradon.”

\---

**10:22 AM**.

Carlos had this sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know what, but something had just felt _off_ since the moment he’d woken up, and he didn’t know what to do about it. This anxiety was probably tearing his stomach to shreds—he wouldn’t be shocked if he gave himself an ulcer—but he didn’t know how to just turn it off. So he just did his best to ignore it and went about his day, business as usual.

Except it was not business as usual. He could tell as soon as he saw Cruella’s face. There was this maniacal smile on her face. Just looking at her made ice shoot down his spine.

“What do you want?” he blurted. He just wanted to leave already. That smile never boded well.

She didn’t answer for a moment, deliberately drawing out the suspense as she leaned forward. Finally, she said, “Maleficent. Wants. You.”

Carlos just blinked. “For what?”

Cruella grinned even wider, making Carlos shrink away. “You’re about to find out, darling. Let’s go.”

His eyes widened without his meaning them to. “Wait. You mean, go to Bargain Castle?”

Cruella rolled her eyes but delighted in the fearful look on her son’s face. “Of course. Where else would we be going, you dumb cunt?”

He didn’t like this at all. He needed to meet with Jay soon, not get caught up in something Maleficent was planning. But surely Mal would have told him if her mother had been planning anything truly devious? The fact that she hadn’t said anything—so she must not have _known_ anything, surely, he trusted her that much—scared him.

But it wasn’t exactly as if he could say no, was it? He lifted his chin and did the only thing he could do.

“Okay.”

\---

Jay registered pain before he registered anything else. He blinked blearily, taking a few moments to focus on what was happening. His head hurt like a bitch, and… Fuck. He must’ve been really fucked up last night, to be this… slow.

He groaned quietly and eased himself up into a sitting position, his vision slowly clearing. Jafar was nowhere to be seen, which Jay definitely counted as a good thing. He was so sick of being that maniac’s guinea pig.

A few minutes and a coffee or two later, he was good as new. At least, he could think now. He still felt like there was an axe chopping at his skull, and his hands were frustratingly shaky, but he could live with that. He’d been worse. Besides, Carlos could probably cook something up for him, especially if he could figure out whatever he’d downed last night.

Just as he was about to make his escape, Jafar stepped into the room. Jay hated how he did that, how he took the sunlight from a room. He knew his dad didn’t have magic anymore (thank _fuck_ ), but he was still an intimidating piece of shit. Maybe it was the whole ensemble, the capes and shit. It’s like they absorbed light and spit out darkness. Really added to the whole creepy vibe.

Carefully not making eye contact with the old sorcerer, Jay said, “I was just about to go and find you-”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Jay paused, really paused. He even looked up at Jafar’s face, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. His dad would never keep him from going out to find shit for the shop. Did he know about Jay’s plans? There was no way. No fucking way. It must be something else. Maybe he wanted to test another concoction? He knew his dad’s obsession with regaining magic was nearly as intense as his greed, but maybe it had finally won out. Maybe-

“We’re going to Bargain Castle,” Jafar finally said, narrowing his eyes at his son’s long silence.

That was… unexpected. What did he want from Maleficent?

“Why?” he asked, careful to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

Jafar shrugged, turning to leave again and expecting his son to follow without question. “Maleficent has summoned us. She’s found a way off of the island, or so she claims.”

Despite Jafar’s cynicism, Jay could hear the hope in his voice. He wasn’t very hopeful himself, though. He’d heard nothing about anything of the sort from Mal, and she wouldn’t ever keep something this important from him.

He hoped.

Hesitating only a moment, he followed his dad out the door.

\---

“Evie,” the queen cooed, “I hate to interrupt your beauty sleep, but we’re urgently needed by Maleficent.”

Even half-asleep, Evie sensed the bullshit in that statement. Maleficent didn’t need anyone for anything. Her mother’s sense of over-inflated self-importance was truly magical.

“‘M’up,” she mumbled, sitting up and smiling wearily at her mother, already bracing herself.

Her mother tsked, brushed some hair out of her face, lightly slapped her cheek. “Oh, you’ll need to hurry up, darling. There’s no way you can be seen in public like this. Your hair…” She began to drone about everything Evie needed to fix before they left. Evie just tuned her out, something she’d gotten pretty good at lately.

“I’ll be ready,” she said clearly, smiling in a way that didn’t reach her eyes. “Just give me a few minutes.”

“Don’t you ever interrupt me again, you dirty whore,” her mother hissed, reminding Evie why she needed to stay off of her bad side. “You think I can’t make you suffer without ruining your figure? Think again.” The queen paused, giving the girl a moment to linger on her words. Evie swallowed, her eyes dropping. “Be ready in ten minutes,” the queen said, smiling and sweeping out of the room.

Evie wanted to die.

Well, she didn’t, really, exactly. She just… Kept thinking it. All the time. It was a nuisance.

She closed her eyes. Breathed in. Breathed out.

“Nine minutes!” her mother called from the other room.

She crawled reluctantly from the refuge of her bed.

\---

Mal knew that her mother had been acting strangely recently, but she was always acting strangely. She’d elected to ignore it. But when Maleficent dragged her out of her room by the hair, muttering about Auradon and the prince and the barrier and _leaving the isle_ , Mal had to wonder if her mother had finally gone batshit.

She didn’t question it, though. She didn’t need to raise even more hell than Maleficent already had.

Maleficent stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, slapping her daughter and hissing in her face, “Are you _listening_ to me?”

Mal swallowed, letting her eyes drop. “I… wasn’t focused. I’m sorry.” She knew better than to lie to—or sass—Maleficent. She was evil incarnate, after all.

Maleficent sneered. “Of course. Not only is my daughter is a half-breed, she’s an imbecile, too. Don’t you want to leave this fucking place? We’ve been offered escape on a silver platter, and you don’t have the mind to fucking pay attention.”

Mal resisted the urge to shy away from her mother’s anger, her voice shrinking. “I’m sorry.”

“You’d fucking better be. Now come on.” Maleficent grabbed her by the elbow and jerked her along, towards her “throne room.”

Mal really regretted not paying attention once they got there, because what she saw was pretty fucking scary. Jay, Evie, Carlos… All accompanied by their parents. Carlos looked white as a ghost and Jay looked like he was going to pass out. And Mal still didn’t understand what exactly was going on here.

She sent a small shake of her head at their questioning looks, stumbling into place before her mother, pointedly not grimacing at the painfully tight grip Maleficent had on her shoulders.

Maleficent took a few long moments before she spoke, probably just to draw out the suspense. Then she said gleefully, “Darlings… Let’s get you ready for Auradon.”

\---

**10:44 AM.**

No one on the Isle had a soul mate. That was why so many were so twisted, obsessed with people who could never be theirs. Or perhaps it was the other way around—maybe they destroyed any connection they might have had with another soul by committed such atrocious deeds. After all, what kind of a person could love someone like Jafar or Maleficent?

Ben thought it was a true tragedy for the children of Auradon, though. He couldn’t help but wonder if he, if his parents, held some responsibility for it; after all, growing up somewhere as violent as the Isle was the surest way to doom a soul to eternal solitude. It made him feel guilty. He pitied them.

Maybe that was a part of why he selected a few to leave the isle and attend Auradon Prep, why he tried to give them a second chance. He needed to ease that guilt weighing on his heart, to tip the scales of justice that he imagined damning his father.

Anyways.

He forced himself to stop pacing. It didn’t look very princely, he knew that, but it was a nervous habit that he’d never seemed to be able to get ahold of. And if there was any time to be nervous, it was now.

The isle kids would be here today.

\---

**10:44 AM.**

"Gather your things, and be back by half past eleven. All will be explained. Jafar, Cruella, Grimmhilde?" The three villains leaned forward expectantly. "I don't want to see your faces again today. You're all dismissed."

Jay and Carlos exchanged a look as the evil faery queen dismissed them and their parents began to gripe. Today had really gone to shit, but there was no way that they could just leave behind… Everything. Or maybe they could?

Carlos nodded to Jay, so subtly he almost missed it, and Jay nodded back. Carlos was the first to make his way out of the castle, dodging his mother’s reach. Jay glanced back to give Mal a reassuring wink and a smile before he grabbed Evie by the arm, elbows linking.

Jafar gave him a nasty look, but he ignored his old man, purring to Evie, “Princess, how would you like an escort?” He shot Grimmhilde a smile that bordered on flirtatious in hopes that that would keep the old woman off of Evie’s ass.

Grimmhilde looked flattered, so Jay wasn’t too worried.

Evie rolled her eyes, but he could see the relief poking through her smile. None of them wanted to be alone right now. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Mal. But nothing could be done about that; they’d just have to get back quickly.

“Well, Jay,” she said, her voice high and prim like it was whenever she was around her mother (and on her best behavior, which she wasn’t always, he couldn’t help thinking with a smirk), “I would love one, but don’t you need to gather your own things?”

Jay shot her a wink. “Not much I figure I need to take, really. I’m not a sentimental guy, and if they can’t loan me a few shirts in that fancy city, that sounds like their loss.”

“Or maybe their gain,” Evie said, a grin sneaking onto her lips as she pointedly eyed his chest. She glanced back at her mother, and when Grimmhilde nodded, she looked back at Jay, the stars in her eyes. “I would love for you to accompany me.”

\---

Carlos didn’t bother going to his mother’s house. He knew there was nothing there he would ever care to take with him.

He headed straight for the warehouse.

He was especially jumpy today, but he wasn’t exactly surprised at that. It was definitely a good day to be a little extra jumpy.

He checked to see that he was alone before making his way in, carefully leaving all the traps he’d laid out undisturbed.

He felt his shoulders drop just a little bit once he got inside. This was just about the only place in the world he’d ever felt safe, and he could feel it washing over him.

Focus, Carlos. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he went and grabbed a bag, stuffing it with some of his gadgets and tools. Auradon would probably have the same or better, but you never know. He also grabbed a few of his prized books, because what if they were banned on Auradon and he couldn’t get another copy? He didn’t exactly expect them to permit books with titles like Torture for Dumbasses or Necromancy: The Forgotten Magic.

He glanced over at Mal’s little collection. He couldn’t exactly bring an extra bag for her, but between him and Jay and Evie, they could probably bring along all of her stuff.

The door creaked open, and Carlos spun, his eyes narrowing to identify the figure—figures?—in the meager light as his fists raised. He relaxed and dropped his arms when he saw it was just Jay and Evie. “What took you so long?”

Jay shrugged, swinging a huge bag that was already full. “Evie wanted to grab some stuff from her place, so we took a detour.”

Carlos nodded. He wanted to question why Evie needed so much stuff, but he knew better than to question her. She might look like a dumb princess-in-training, but she was probably the smartest witch on this island.

“Think you can get some of Mal’s stuff, Jay?” was all he asked.

Jay nodded, and within minutes, they were all packed up. One lingering look around the warehouse, and they were gone.

\---

**11:19 AM.**

When Jay, Carlos, and Evie finally showed up, they all showed up together. Mal wasn’t surprised.

She’d been ready long before any of them had, but then again, she hadn’t had to travel. She hoped that they’d gotten some of her stuff from the warehouse, especially her magic book, but she knew better than to go get it herself and clue her mom in to that location. Even if they were leaving, she didn’t want to lose that place.

“Excellent,” Maleficent said, her voice clipped. “Now listen. Do not say a word until I’m finished.” She paused, as if to ensure everyone understood her, but it wasn’t necessary. No one in this room would dare.

“You are going to Auradon because the prince has requested your presence there—permanently. He is planning to bring over Isle children. You are the first four. You are also our first chance at freedom from this hellhole in decades.” She eyed them all carefully, letting the gravity of their position sink in. “Once you get there, you must find a way to break down the barrier. Do not think to disobey me. I have friends on the other side.” She smiled wickedly, and Mal shuddered. “There are powerful magic items on that side of the barrier. I would send with you my staff, of course… It’s as powerful, if not more, than anything in Auradon. But I’m afraid that might raise some suspicion. You should obtain Cinderella’s fairy godmother’s wand. It’s their most powerful and prized magical possession.”

She looked around and was met with silence. “Am I understood?”

The children nodded, and she narrowed her eyes, so they chorused, “Crystal.”

“Good,” she said, smiling. “The coach will arrive any minute."


	2. Chapter 2

**First Sunday of August, 11:32 AM.**

“Uh, that doesn’t really look like a coach,” Jay remarked, a heavy duffel bag hanging from each shoulder.

“It’s a limousine,” Carlos said, a little awed.

“A lima-what?”

Carlos punched him lightly on the arm, rolling his eyes. “It’s a reeeaally fancy Auradon car.”

Before Jay could say anything else, Maleficent grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him forward. “Well? Go.”

“Ouch, lady, sorry, we’re going,” Jay mumbled, scowling and walking towards the car. “How do you open this thing?”

Carlos walked over to try to help, but before he could do anything, the door just slid open.

“Oh, wow, good job, Carlos! I didn’t even see what you did.”

“I didn’t- Oof.” He stumbled into the car after Jay as Mal shoved him forward. There was plenty of room in the floor for all their bags, and soooo much seating. It was so soft. Holy fuck.

Evie was the last to get into the car, stepping daintily inside and smoothing out her skirt as she sat. The door slid shut behind her of its own accord.

“Wow,” she breathed, and they all echoed her.

“If this is so grand, just wait until you see Auradon itself,” the driver commented from up front, making the four kids startle.

“How long will it be?” Mal asked, looking out the windows as they approached the edge of the island.

“Not long now,” the driver said, his voice friendly. Mal wrinkled her nose. “Once we exit the barrier, the trip will get a little speedier; we’ll have a little magical assist crossing the ocean.”

“Good to know,” she said dryly.

No one was going to miss this place. But they might miss some of the people. Especially the kids. Evie could already feel the pang in her heart; she couldn’t stop thinking about the little ones being left behind. She just hoped they could stay alive long enough to have a shot at leaving, too.

Carlos and Jay weren’t quite so preoccupied with the other isle kids, though. Mostly, they were looking forward to this opportunity: this opportunity to finally escape their parents’ grasp. Their heads were full of daydreams where they’d never have to see Jafar or Cruella again.

Mal had no such delusions. She knew better than to turn against her mother. She would get the wand, and she would break the barrier. She didn’t doubt that there would be consequences of some kind if she didn’t.

They were at the edge of the island. The driver had reassured them that magic would in some way be helping them cross the ocean, but… Mal hoped that didn’t entail a little swim with the fishes.

Suddenly the barrier became visible: a golden sheen all over the isle. And she could feel the opening; she felt it before she saw it.

The moment they passed through, it was like someone had stolen the air from her lungs.

She could feel this electric charge throughout her entire body. It felt like she’d been tossed in a deep fryer. Pain shot up her arms and she vaguely registered the ink crawling up them now. She didn’t have the presence of mind to see what it was; everything was a haze.

“Mal,” Carlos breathed, “Your eyes…”

Mal painfully turned to look at Carlos. “What about my eyes?” But he wasn’t paying her any attention anymore. He was staring at Evie, jaw halfway to the floor.

She blinked, her vision clearing somewhat, but there was no way she could be seeing what she was seeing. Evie was…

“Evie, you’re fucking _glowing_ ,” Jay said, staring.

Evie looked at him, blinking rapidly, like she wasn’t seeing correctly. “And you’re… what are you?” Her voice was so so so soft.

Mal looked between the four of them. Carlos was the only one who wasn’t… Different. Except for the ink on his arms.

“Magic,” she whispered.

“So you have your mother’s magic, I get that,” Carlos said, his voice a little shaky. “But…”

“My father was a genie when he was taken to the isle,” Jay said quietly, examining the manacles on his wrists. “Maybe it’s… Something that can be passed down, I guess.”

There was a long silence.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Evie finally said, her voice cracking. Her eyes were glimmering, with tears or magic no one was exactly sure. Her whole body just had this light glow to it, and her hair… It was on fire, except it was clearly not on fire, because it was still its natural blue and it hadn’t been burned away and she looked like she hadn’t even noticed it yet.

“...Who’s your dad, Eves?” Carlos asked, his voice gentle.

“Fuck if I know! I mean, do you know? None of us do!” She was getting a little hysterical.

Jay moved to wrap an arm around her, trying to comfort her.

Carlos hesitated to speak, but Mal didn’t. “I’ll bet my ass it’s Hades.”

Evie blinked. “Why?”

Mal smiled a little, nodding to her. “Your hair, Eves. It’s on fire. No wonder you’re a natural blue, eh?”

There was another long pause as everyone tried to clear their heads and calm the questions swirling around.

Carlos broke it. “So you… Have Hades magic, too, presumably,” he said, nodding to Evie. Then he looked at Jay. “If you really are a genie, though, then where’s your lamp? Surely one would have appeared. So that… Doesn’t make sense.” Jay nodded uneasily, his arm tightening around Evie’s shoulders. “Also… What’s with the tats?” He lifted his arms, showing the others the ink swirling around his wrists. Inside the complicated, knotted patterns, there were three names: Evie, Jay, and Mal. “I’m not even magical.”

“I have them too,” Mal said, reading the names aloud. “Carlos, Evie, Jay.”

At the same time, Evie and Jay said, “Me too.” They glanced at each other, smiles appearing on their faces. “Same names,” Evie said. “I mean, not exact same, but, you know, you three.”

“Same,” said Jay. “What does it mean?” He looked to Carlos.

“Fuck if I know. I asked first, remember?” Carlos shook his head a little, his smile tinged with hysteria. “Maybe they’ll know in Auradon.”

“Fuck. Auradon. What if they send us back? I doubt they were counting on us having such insane magic,” Mal said, fear etching itself into her expression.

“I guess we’re about to find out,” Carlos said quietly, nodding to the landscape they’re approaching.

They looked at each other, weary and afraid.

“Whatever happens, we’ve got each other’s backs,” Mal swore, reaching out to take Carlos’s and Jay’s hands.

“Fuck yeah,” Jay said, squeezing her hand and kissing Evie’s temple.

Silence fell as they waited to arrive.

\---

**11:59 AM.**

Ben was pacing again. Oops. He stopped when his father shot him a glare, stiffening and standing by Audrey, trying not to fidget. She reached out and put a hand on his arm, offering a comforting smile. He smiled back and looked away. He wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to deal with her right now. After…

“I can see it!” his mother said quietly, her eyes widening.

He focused on the horizon again, swallowing hard when he saw the approaching car.

He really, really, really hoped that he hadn’t just made a huge mistake.

The car got here faster than it probably would have normally, thanks to Fairy Godmother’s magic. He watched nervously as the door slid open, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on his hip.

The first one to step out was Carlos. He looked anxious, which surprised Ben. He expected them to be relieved and grateful—well, maybe not grateful, but. He didn’t expect them to be afraid to be here.

He also didn’t remember Carlos having any tattoos, but he didn’t have the time to examine them before Evie stepped out.

He vaguely noticed someone beckoning his father away out of his peripheral vision, but he couldn’t look away from the girl before him. She was… Stunning. And she looked _nothing_ like the girl he’d seen in the magic mirror.

Her skin seemed alight. She was a beacon of light, ironically. And her hair… It was on fire. It was settled around her shoulders, the flames low and calm, but it was undoubtedly on fire.

He had been expecting a daughter of the evil queen, not the god of the dead.

It was just his luck to get both.

Right behind her came Mal. He expected her to show some sign of her mother’s magic, but, surprisingly, she didn’t. She looked just as she had on the isle: dirty clothes, mangy purple hair, a ratty old bag hanging from her shoulder.

Audrey’s hand tightened slightly on his arm. She hadn’t exactly been a fan of bringing Mal in particular over to Auradon. He winced.

Jay was the last out of the car, carrying two other bags. His expression was wary and his wrists were… Manacled? Perhaps a parting gift from Jafar. Ben had to admit, though, that there was something different about his aura. He couldn’t place what it was, though, so he just shook his head and smiled.

“Welcome to Auradon,” he said, a bit awkwardly. The four isle kids exchanged a glance, frowning. “I’m Prince Ben. I’m the one who, uh, arranged for you to be here. And these are my parents-” He gestured to his parents, then frowned, realizing his dad wasn’t there. “Er, I mean, my mom. And this is Audrey. And uh, don’t mind the guards. They just go everywhere with us.”

“Right,” said Mal, her voice strangely… friendly. “Thank you for this opportunity, your highness.”

He wasn’t sure, but he felt like there was some hint of sarcasm in the words “your highness.”

Evie elbowed Mal and stepped forward, curtsying and smiling. “Would you mind showing us where we can leave our bags?”

Ben opened his mouth to answer, but then he caught sight of her arm. She suddenly had a tattoo, too. And he could see it.

Three names.

It was…

Holy _shit_.

After a long moment, Evie said in a faltering voice, “Your highness? What’s wrong?”

“You look white as a ghost,” Mal added.

“You arm,” he managed to sputter. “You have… Uh.”

“Oh! The tattoo,” Evie said, relief stooping her shoulders. “We were hoping you could explain that.”

He looked at all of them. They all had them. The tattoos.

He didn’t have the voice to speak.

Audrey scoffed and elbowed her way past Ben. Evie took a step back, but Audrey glared and said, “I’m not going to hurt you. Let me see it.” She held out her hand expectantly, and Evie reluctantly stretched out her arms.

Audrey had to admit, the tattoos were beautiful. Hers wasn’t nearly as wild or complex or detailed. Hers was simple, elegant. Theirs were… Intense. It was practically a sleeve, going all the way up past Evie’s elbows. Audrey didn’t even have the time to wonder at all the intricate designs—thorns, roses, runes, gems, stormclouds, lightning…

But she saw the names.

She looked sharply up at the girl, who narrowed her eyes. “Well?” Evie snapped.

Audrey dropped her arms, practically jumping at Carlos. Both of the others stepped in her way, but whatever. She rolled her eyes at them, snapping, “Just let me _look_ ,” and taking Jay’s arm. He looked taken aback, and angry, and his fingers were curled into fists, but he didn’t protest.

She was going to grab for Mal’s arm when Belle snapped, “Audrey, enough. You’re being impolite.”

Audrey resisted the urge to roll her eyes even though the monarch couldn’t see her face. Reluctantly, she pulled away. “How is this possible?” she demanded, her voice sharp.

“I don’t know,” Ben said.

“Well, what is it?” asked Belle, at the same time Mal snapped, “Explain yourself, bitch.”

Belle sent a sharp look in Mal’s direction, but the little witch didn’t look away from Audrey.

“Soulmarks,” she spat, practically in a staring contest with Mal, lifting her arm to show them her mark. “Almost everyone has a soul mate. Their name appears on your arm when you’re born. Most villains never have them, and since you all were born on the isle, we always just assumed… You didn’t have any.”

There was silence, and then Mal barked a laugh. “How cute.” She smiled devilishly at Audrey, leaning into her personal space. “Sweetheart, soulmates don’t exist.”

Audrey just shakes her head, staring the girl down. “Yes, they definitely do. And you all… You have more than one. I’ve never seen that in my life.”

“I thought that they were a myth,” Carlos squeaked. Audrey’s head snapped to face him. “Soulmarks, I mean. I’ve read about them, but… Never as in _they still exist_ . Just as in _thousands of years ago_.”

“Well,” Audrey said coldly. “You’ve been misinformed.”

The four of them looked at each other. Then looked away.

“Just tell us what to do with our bags,” snapped Jay, the tension getting to him.

“Of course,” Ben said, cutting off Audrey before she could say anything else. “This way.”

The four isle kids shared another look before reluctantly following the prince.


	3. Chapter 3

**First Sunday of August, 12:15 PM.**

Jay was really fucking sick. He wanted some more coffee. Or something from Carlos. Except Carlos was, uh. Well, they were all busy, weren’t they? He couldn’t exactly pull Carlos aside and be all like “Hey bud, wanna secretly give me some of that stuff you give me when my dad fucks me up because I feel like shit?” That was dumb. His head was spinning.

He wasn’t about to let on to these dumb Auradon motherfuckers that he was sick though. No way was he going to jeopardize his friends like that. Haha, his soulmates, too. Hahahahahaha.

He heard his name, but everything was kinda fuzzy. He grinned at Carlos, who looked concerned.

“Yeaah pup?”

“Um. What’s so funny?”

He frowned. Was Carlos a mind reader? Maybe he had magic after all.

Carlos frowned even more. “No, I’m not, Jay, you’re talking out loud.”

Oh. Fuck. Uh. Shit, he was really out of it. He hoped he didn’t say that bit out loud too. He couldn’t feel his hands any more, he realized. Why was everything so fucking fuuzzzyyy?

He heard voices, but he wasn’t really processing what they were saying. “Uh guys, um, I-”

He felt a twinge in his shoulder, and it took a second for him to realize that someone had grabbed the bags from him. He blinked and tried to focus and he could barely make out Evie, standing right in front of him. His face was tingling. Uh oh.

“Eves,” he started, stopping when a wave of dizziness nearly knocked him over. “Eves, I’m not feeling so good.”

He hoped he said that quieter than it sounded in his head. He just needed to look okay. He just needed to keep them safe. He just needed to…

He felt an arm wrap around him. Two. He looked to either side and tried not to fall over. Mal. Carlos. Fuck. Where was Ben?

“Sorry, guys,” was the last coherent thing he managed to mumble.

\---

**12:48 PM.**

Mal wanted to kill Jafar. Really. If she ever saw that man again, she was going to peel off his skin and hang him with it.

Unfortunately, Jafar wasn’t around, and there was no one else she could kill. So she just wrung her hands and paced, growling into her fists every now and then. This whole room felt stale. It had the purest cream walls she’d ever seen, and the lights were bright, almost too bright. Evie and Carlos were sitting down on plush blue chairs, Carlos’s feet were tapping relentlessly, but Mal was pretty sure that if she sat down she’d start ripping something apart.

She was reaaaally pissed, too, that these motherfuckers wouldn’t let her near Jay. They wouldn’t even let Carlos in! They were “real doctors” apparently, so they were in some way qualified to take care of Jay in a way that they claimed Carlos couldn’t. Mal didn’t know if they were telling the truth or not, but she did know if they didn’t fix Jay up good as new, she’d fucking end them.

Her head snapped up and her pacing stopped as someone walked into the room. Long white coat—fucking _pristine_ —and a clipboard. He looked official. Probably a doctor. She stepped towards him, but before she could say anything, he did.

“Ah, I need a Carlos DeVil.” The man’s eyes roamed the room before landing on Carlos. “I presume that’s you?”

Carlos shot to his feet and walked over. Thank _Hades_. They were finally going to let him help. Maybe they did have brains after all.

“I’m Dr. Winters,” the man said. “If you’ll come with me, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Mal wrinkled her nose. Ask a few questions?

“What kinds of questions?” Carlos asked, his voice full of mistrust.

The doctor smiled. “About your health. I’d like to perform a simple examination, just ensure that you’re in good health.”

Carlos snorted. Mal seethed. The motherfuckers were going to take _another_ one of them off alone? She glanced at Evie, and she saw her own rage and wariness reflected in the other girl’s eyes. They should’ve known better than to trust these people. What were they separating them for? Were they going to torture them for information? Or as a punishment for what they’d done on the isle? Were they going to kill them?

She looked back at Carlos and the doctor, her eyes flashing. “Don’t touch him.”

The doctor looked at her, still smiling. “And you are…?”

She said nothing, just narrowing her eyes.

“Well. Ma’am, I mean none of you any harm. I am a doctor, and I only want to ensure that your friend here is well and healthy.”

Carlos shot her a look and shook his head a little. He wanted her to back down.

“I can handle myself,” he said after a pause. She grit her teeth—she knew he could, fuck, she knew that, but still—and reluctantly nodded.

She looked at the doctor. “If he’s not back in twenty minutes, I’ll slit your throat.”

She didn’t think the doctor took her threat seriously, based on the smile he gave her as he led Carlos away.

She really fucking hated this place already.

\---

**1:19 PM.**

Carlos still wasn’t back, and neither was Jay, and Evie was beginning to wonder if maybe pacing like Mal wasn’t such a bad idea. It had been eighteen minutes since Carlos had left with the Dr. Winters, and she’d lost track of how long it’d been since they’d taken Jay away. She felt so out of control of this situation, so out of her element, and it made anxiety twist in the pit of her stomach.

She looked up at the clock, watching the minute hand inch its way slowly around. Twenty minutes past one o’clock. Nineteen minutes since Carlos left.

The door opened. Not the one that led to Jay and Carlos, but the exit. Ben stepped inside, carrying a tray of food. “I, uh, thought you guys might be hungry, so I brought something.”

Mal and Evie exchanged a look before jumping for the food, grabbing the tray and retreating to the other side of the room. Mal practically inhaled the food, she ate so fast, but she left plenty for the other three.

Another door opened. Carlos stepped in, followed by Dr. Winters. “Evie… No last name. I need to see you next.”

Mal glowered at the man, but he ignored her. Carlos walked over, eyeing the food and wrapping an arm around Evie’s shoulders. Before he grabbed a bite, he said quietly to her, “If he comes at you with a needle, ask him what it’s for. He’s nice enough to answer. If he wants to draw blood, let him, he won’t hurt you. If he wants to do anything else, say no. Apparently you’re allowed to say no. And I don’t know enough about the stuff to trust whatever’s in the needle.”

Evie swallowed. She was not looking forward to getting stuck with a needle, no matter what the reason. But she trusted Carlos’s judgement. She kissed his forehead before walking away, leaving him and Mal to the food.

Fucking hell. She almost regretted coming to Auradon already. The food had been good, so far, but… Between her new magic, the soulmarks, the prince, Jay’s collapse, and this nightmare with the doctors, she felt like she’d been thrown off of a building, repeatedly.

She wasn’t about to bitch about it, though. So she just followed Dr. Winters into a room and took a seat.

“So, Evie, I’d like to ask you a few questions first.”

\---

**1:23 PM.**

Holy. Fuck.

Holy. Fuck.

Holy. Fuck.

The words looped in his head a couple times as he slowly tried to process his surroundings.

Fuck!

Fucking hell, his head fucking hurt. That was the first thing he noticed.

Fuck fuck fuck.

There was a twinge of pain in his arm, and slowly the pain in his head eased. He sighed, slowly opening his eyes and squinting against the light.

He could see the silhouette of someone… Probably a stranger, probably a woman, but that’s all he could make out.

“Jahd?” The voice was definitely feminine, although unusually quiet. He figured it was his hearing and not her voice that was the problem.

“Mmph,” was all he managed to say.

“Good. You’re finally awake.” The voice felt closer now, a little louder. He could practically feel the relief in her tone. He didn’t feel particularly relieved at the moment, considering how fuzzy everything was and how helpless he felt, but maybe he should reconsider. What had happened?

“Who…?” His voice sounded like shit.

“I’m Dr. James. I’ve been managing your care here since Prince Ben and your… companions brought you to us. From what we’ve gathered, it seems like you consumed a pretty nasty potion. I’m the only professional in this facility with experience dealing with magical illnesses and the like, which is why I’m on your case.”

Jay managed a snort, blinking and frustratedly trying to break free from the fuzzy feeling. “Magical? It was just…”

Fuck, his dad’s shit hadn’t actually worked, had it? That would be bad, if Jafar really could access some types of magic like this from the island.

 

_Jafar had him pinned against the wall, a blade to his throat. He was fifteen years old and thought he was smarter, stronger than he really was. He should’ve known better._

_“Drink it,” his father hissed, and Jay felt a sting at his neck. Felt a few drops of blood trickle down under his collar._

_“What is it?” he managed, trying not to tremble._

_His father tilted his head and grinned. And started monologuing, because of course he did. “Magic doesn’t work on this blasted island. But my magic… It can’t be entirely gone, I’m certain of it. It’s a different breed than the fairy godmother’s pitiful fireworks. It’s born straight from the earth, from the purest of elements. It’s not something that can be stopped by a mere barrier. So I’m going to find the magic I have left… And you are going to help me.”_

 

Jay had done what his father forced him to. None of the curses, or potions, or whatever ever seemed to work, which pissed off his father to no end, but they did really fuck Jay up for a while every time. He never really figured out exactly what the potions were meant to _do_. He was regretting that now.

It took him a moment to realize that the doctor woman was speaking. He briefly considered paying attention, but he was just too fucking wiped. He closed his eyes.

\---

**1:31 PM.**

By the time another doctor showed up, Mal was really, genuinely ready to scream. She was so over this. She hated how she didn’t have any fucking control over this situation. She was used to being totally in control, and now she felt helpless, and she really _didn’t fucking like it_.

She glared at the doctor, who looked taken aback. The doctor awkwardly cleared her throat and said, “You’re Jahd’s companions, yes?”

“Jay,” Mal snapped.

“Yes,” Carlos said quickly, shooting Mal a look and smiling at the doctor. “Any news?”

“Yes. He woke a few minutes ago, although he went back to sleep after we gave him some painkillers,” she said. “We believe he’ll be alright, although there isn’t much that we can do besides help to ease the pain for now. He was hit with a pretty nasty curse. We’re not sure how he’s survived, really.”

Mal glowered, ready to rip someone’s throat out. She practically growled when she spoke. “Jafar.”

“It must have activated when we crossed the barrier,” said Carlos, his eyes dark and calculating.

“Fuck.”

The doctor narrowed her eyes but didn’t admonish Mal. “Jay should be up and ready to go in a few hours. You’re free to wait until then.”

And then she left the two alone, anxious and angry and waiting for their friends to come back to them.


	4. Chapter 4

**First Sunday of August, 4:13 PM.**

Carlos couldn’t have been more relieved to leave the medical ward behind. He hoped he wouldn’t be seeing that place often.

Mal looked ready to kill someone. Evie looked like someone had run her through a blender. Jay was a little high on the pain meds they’d given him; he had an arm looped around Mal’s waist and he kept mumbling stuff to her that Carlos couldn’t quite hear.

Carlos was just fucking exhausted. And uncomfortable. Specifically, he was uncomfortable with how much he suddenly didn’t know. He’d been hit with more than a couple bombshells that morning, and he just itched to get to the library and investigate. What might Evie’s powers be? He’d never bothered to learn much about Hades. The god lived underground—because of course he did—and rarely, if ever, came above to bother anyone. Carlos wasn’t really sure how he survived, but he felt sure that the god must have retained at least some of his powers, possibly including his immortality. If he hadn’t, how would the Underworld be running?

Who knows, though, maybe it wasn’t.

And what about Jay? He was worried about Jay. The new magic just didn’t make any sense to Carlos, and he didn’t know nearly enough about genies to make an educated guess on what might be going on. Was Jay a genie? If so, where was his lamp? Was he going to be trapped or controlled? Maybe he wasn’t actually a genie, or at least, maybe somehow not entirely a genie? But that didn’t make any sense. He’d never heard of a half-genie. He just hoped that, whatever the case was, his friend wasn’t in danger.

And then there was the… other thing. The whole “soulmate” thing. It was just… Weird. Carlos wasn’t entirely certain that research would actually ease the discomfort in that arena, but it was worth a shot. Maybe, if he really dug in, he would find out that it wasn’t really a whole thing. Or as important as everyone acted like it was. Or…

Fuck, he just didn’t want things to get weird between him and his friends. They were all he had.

He really just wanted to figure all this shit out.

“Hey,” he said hesitantly, and the group turned to look at him. Jay flashed him a brazen smile and a wink. “I was thinking… Would you all mind if we found the library before trying to find our rooms? What with… Everything, I think we’d be better off if I could find some information. Get us on level footing, or at least as much as I can, with everyone else.”

Mal still looked like she wanted to start a brawl, but she nodded sharply.

“How’re we gonna find the library, exactly?” Evie asked, and Carlos could hear the tension in her voice. “This place is fucking ginormous.”

“Uh. Maybe we should just wander, and if we run into someone, ask? Or maybe there are signs?” Signs would be helpful. They seemed like a very Auradonian thing to have.

“I don’t see any,” Mal said.

“Right. Well, I guess-” Carlos startled when something jumped out at them from the wall, his feet sliding apart and his fists raising to his chest, spinning to face whatever just came out of fucking nowh-

Carlos blinked.

“Is that a-”

“I am Sir Walter.”

“I’m Jay,” said Jay.

“How might I assist you, good ladies and gentleman? You appear to be lost,” added the… Sir Walter.

Carlos was fucking losing it. That was a talking suit of fucking armor.

He glanced at his friends to ensure they saw it, too, and he wasn’t hallucinating.

“We’re, um. Just looking for the library?” said Carlos.

“This way,” said the armor as it began to trek down the hallway. It was a lot more quiet than Carlos would have expected from a precarious magical collection of metal.

The other three exchanged a glance. Then Mal shrugged, and they all set off to follow the sentient suit of armor.

\---

Evie didn’t think she’d ever seen Carlos so excited. The moment he’d stepped into the library, his whole face had just… Lit up. He was absolutely dazzled.

And she understood why. The library was massive, and strangely, it was also one of the most beautiful places she’d ever been. The bookshelves were stone, as were the floors, but she could see delicate, intricate designs carved into the surface everywhere she looked. They reminded her of the soulmark tattoos.

Which she was _not_ going to think about. That was definitely getting repressed. At least for now. Maybe forever.

It was all stupid, anyways. Soulmates? Really?

She sighed, and she just felt the exhaustion settle over her. She was so, so tired. All she really wanted to do was find a bed, curl up in it, and not leave it for days. But she never got to do that, so she figured she wouldn’t be able to now.

Mal nudged her. “Eves?”

Evie reluctantly looked over at her, flashing a smile. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay? Normally I figured you’d be… More excited about a place like this. Y’know, like pup over there,” Mal said with a little bit of a grin, nodding to Carlos. “Even Jay’s more into these books than you are, and that’s just fucking weird.” Jay was staring at a shelf of books, looking awed. He kept grabbing books and putting them back without ever reading the titles.

Mal was right. Evie just couldn’t really bring herself to care.

“I’m just tired,” she said, shrugging and offering Mal a weary smile. “It’s been a long day.”

It was always a long day, but she didn’t need to say that. It was always a long day for everyone. She probably had it a lot easier than her friends, even.

She could see the hesitation on Mal’s face. Mal wanted to be concerned for her. But she nodded anyways, letting it go.

She couldn’t wait to find a bed.

\---

Mal was angry. And worried. None of her friends seemed quite… Okay. She wasn’t, either, but that didn’t matter. Jay was fucking high off his ass, which was probably better than the pain he’d been in earlier (she kept seeing him in her head: writhing and screaming, hardly even aware of his surroundings, looking like he was dying and there was _nothing she could fucking do_ ). Carlos was even antsier than usual. And when Carlos was anxious? Shit was real. And Evie… Mal didn’t know what was wrong, but something was. The girl looked like she’d just faded out, like she was barely even there. Mal didn’t really blame her. If she could hide inside herself from all the shit that had happened today (and every day, really), she probably would, too.

When Mal saw Ben step into the library, still trailed by his bodyguards, she gave him a look and wondered if maybe she would get the chance to beat the shit out of somebody today after all. If he tried to separate them again…

“Hey guys, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but you really need to get your schedules made, and if you want that done anytime soon, we should probably get going,” said Ben.

Before anyone could say anything, Jay marched over, holding an open book in his hands with a consternated expression on his face. “The book doesn’t fucking work!”

“Uh,” said Ben, stepping closer, probably hoping to be helpful. “What do you mean?”

“I mean it doesn’t fucking work!” Jay shoved the book in his face. “See?”

“It’s upside down.”

Jay scoffed. “I’m not upside down! You are!”

Mal bit back a laugh, grabbed the book from Jay, flipped it over, and handed it back. “Does it work now?”

Jay gaped at her. “Yes.”

“Uh-mm. Anyways. Uh, schedules, and stuff,” said Ben.

“I don’t _do_ schedules,” Jay supplied helpfully.

Carlos shook his head, grinning, and patted Jay on the back. “Come on, dude. Let’s just go. The sooner we get this shit done, the sooner we can eat.”

“Uh, one other thing,” Ben winced. “You should probably, um, tone down all the swearing. Most people here don’t really… Approve. Of that.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Mal said. She’d cooled down a bit, but she was still completely out of patience for these idiots.

“Okay,” Ben squeaked.

\---

**7:52 PM.**

The whole scheduling thing had taken fucking forever. Jay had tried to get his own schedule done, but he had really just been too out of it. Mal helped him get it done, and he didn’t mind the finished product. He felt more like himself now.

His head was starting to hurt like a bitch, though. He’d just have to deal.

He couldn’t believe he’d spent the whole day so… out of it. He’d endangered everyone in the group. They’d had to separate because of him. On their first day here! He could see how rattled all three of his friends were, and he felt a pang knowing he’d caused that. He was supposed to be a protector. Instead, he’d been a liability.

Never again.

“Which way to the cafeteria?” Carlos asked Ben, who’d stayed with them the whole time. That boy might be a fancy, dumb Auradon prick, but he was pretty stubborn, too.

“Actually, it’s about to close,” Ben said regretfully.

“About to? When does it close?” Mal asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Um. In like, seven minutes?”

“Lead the way,” Mal said. “Be quick. We wouldn’t want to be late.”

“They’re probably closing already, though, and-”

“Did you hear what I said, princey?”

Jay crossed his arms and gave Ben a look, like, you really wanna pick a fight with Mal? With _us_? He could see Carlos and Evie mirroring him in his side vision. They weren’t going to go without food tonight, not if they had anything to say about it.

Ben gave them a long look. Then, shocking them all, he straightened and said, “We don’t need to go to the cafeteria, you know. I can take you into town or something. I wouldn’t let you go without food.” Jay could hear the unspoken _obviously_ in the last sentence.

“Well, princey does have a spine,” Mal muttered, tilting her head. “So long as we get food, I don’t give a fuck where we go.”

“Okay,” said Ben, smiling a little, like he’d won some sort of victory. Jay’s eyes narrowed. “How about pizza?”

“...pizza,” Carlos said incredulously.

“The fuck is that?” asked Jay.

Ben looked shocked. “You’ve never had pizza?”

“None of us are Italian,” pointed out Carlos (Jay nodding along like he knew what Carlos was talking about), “and you don’t exactly send it over in heaps on the barges. You can’t grow it on trees, either,” he added with a snort.

“Oh,” said Ben. Then he grinned. “Do you guys want to try pizza?”

“We just want to eat and be left alone,” snapped Mal.

“I’ll order you guys a pizza, then,” said Ben amicably. He seemed to be adjusting to Mal’s abrasiveness, at least a little. He didn’t seem quite as scared of her. “Normally they don’t let anyone deliver right onto campus, but I can definitely organize an exception for you guys, at least this once.”

“They’ll deliver it straight here?” Mal said, looking a little surprised.

“Yeah. So I can show you to your rooms now, if you want.”

“Lead the way.”

\---

 **8:36 PM**.

The pizza was good. Way better than anything they’d ever had on the isle.

Evie and Mal had to sneak out of their room to come hang out with Jay and Carlos. Apparently, the girls weren’t supposed to be on the guy’s floor, and vice versa. Evie thought it was pretty fucking stupid, especially considering it was stupidly easy to just… Go. It’s not like there were guards roaming the halls or anything.

The four of them were just eating. None of them said anything. Jay was sprawled out on his bed, and Carlos was sitting beside it, leaning back against the mattress. Evie was sitting criss-cross on the floor by Carlos, and Mal was up pacing. She’d eaten less than any of them.

“You okay, Mal?” Evie asked softly. Mal halted, looking over at Evie and smiling. Evie knew it was false, so she didn’t bother smiling back.

Mal sighed and said, “I’m just worried. About everything. About… What we have to do.”

Evie looked over at Jay and Carlos, the three of them sharing an expression of wary confusion.

“What _exactly_ are you talking about?” asked Carlos, setting his half-eaten slice of pizza aside.

“The wand,” Mal said simply.

There was a long pause before Evie said, “We’re not doing that, Mal. We don’t have to. Why would we help them? They’ve never done anything for us.”

“Because my mother wasn’t lying when she said she had friends on this side of the barrier,” Mal said, her voice soft. “She’s a faery. Not only that, she’s some sort of faery royalty. I don’t know specifics, but I know that there are plenty of faeries in Auradon, and there are more than enough to hurt us if we betray her.”

“If they want to get her out so bad, why don’t they do it themselves?” Jay snorted.

“Maybe they don’t want to get her out,” Carlos said, looking pointedly at Mal.

“Look, I don’t know,” Mal said, her voice getting angrier. “All I know is that we’re in danger here, and I don’t think we’re quite free of my mother’s clutches, and I don’t know what we could possibly do about that except what she wants us to.”

“How about this,” said Carlos. “How about you give me a few days to research this, to see if the faeries might really be a threat. If they are, we’ll talk. Until then, let’s not do anything stupid.”

Mal hesitated, then whispered, “Okay.” She stopped pacing and sat down by Evie, which Evie thought was a good sign. She wrapped an arm around Mal’s shoulders and leaned her head on her shoulder.

“It’s all gonna be okay,” Evie reassured her.

Mal laughed derisively, and Evie couldn’t blame her. She sounded like a liar even to herself.

“Well,” Jay said, trying to break the tension, “I dunno about you guys, but I’m just looking forward to kicking some Auradonian ass in that combat class.”

Mal snorts, grinning. “Yeah. I can’t believe they would actually let us in that class.” She nudged Evie. “I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t join it.”

Evie rolled her eyes, grinning. “Because I already know how to fight. I don’t need some Auradonian prick to teach me how. Plus, I’ll have a bigger advantage if these people underestimate me.”

Mal shrugged. “If you can win no matter what they think of you, then why bother with the mind games?”

“Cause it’s more fun,” said Evie.

“Less fun than beating them up every day of the week,” said Jay.

“Agree to disagree.”

They all fell back into a comfortable silence. Carlos picked his pizza back up and finished it off. Mal fidgeted with her hands, and Evie felt her gaze falling to Mal’s arm.

Her tattoos were really, truly fucking beautiful. She’d never seen anything like them in her life. Well, until today.

There were so many little objects and scenes threaded together that it was hard to distinguish them from one another. She saw Carlos’s gadgets, the _Long Live Evil_ tag, Jay’s jacket. A simple thread wove through it all and encircled a name that all of it was swirling around: Carlos. Further up her arm, closer to her elbow, was another name: Jay. Of course the magic called him Jay instead of his given name. Weird.

Her other arm was the same. A gazillion little designs all knotted together, swirling around a name. Hers. But there- at the edge of Mal’s wrist, in the tiniest of writing, she saw Jay’s name. She trailed her finger up Mal’s arm and saw Carlos’s name, too. So small. Hidden in the intricacy of the tattoo covering her arm.

“Eves,” Mal said softly, “What’re you doing?”

Evie pulled her hand away, turning a little bit red. She hadn’t really realized she’d been staring so hard, or that she’d actually reached out to touch the tattoo. “Nothing. Just… Admiring.”

Mal must have seen something in her face, because she reached out and took Evie’s hand, rubbing her thumb along Evie’s wrist. She looked intently into Evie’s eyes, so intently that Evie had to look down.

“I don’t know what this means,” Mal said quietly, and Evie felt more than saw Mal look over at the other two boys. “But I know that it doesn’t change anything between us. It shouldn’t. We’re still a team. We’re still _us_. It’s still just us against the world.”

That didn’t comfort Evie as much as she thought it should’ve.

“And we will find out what it means,” said Carlos. That did make Evie settle a little, made her look up. Carlos smiled at her and reached out for her free hand. She gave it to him. “Not that that changes anything, either. But, y’know. We’ll figure it all out. We always do.”

Jay slid off of his bed to join their little circle, grunting when he hit the floor. He took Carlos’s hand, then Mal’s, checking out their tattoos. “We’re gonna fuck Auradon’s shit up.”

Evie couldn’t help but grin. “Fuck yeah.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all i'm so so sorry it took me so long to write this!! depression's a bitch and i'm a hot mess sooo. but this chapter is around twice as long as the previous chapters i've written so maybe that makes up for it a bit? anyways let me know what y'all think of it!! thanks so much for reading <3 :)

**First Monday of August, 8:21 AM.**

Jay, Evie, Mal, and Carlos were probably the weirdest, scariest, and most-gossipped-about new kids to ever haunt the halls of Auradon Prep. Weeks before their arrival, the rumor mill had already been in full swing. There’d been a whole school-wide bet running on whether or not Mal would have horns. Audrey had thrown herself an entire fit at the idea of Maleficent’s daughter coming to school, talking all about how the girl would probably curse everybody or something, but it was undoubtedly just for the attention. Audrey wasn’t scared of nothing.

Given as Snow White was single, the Radcliffes didn’t have any kids (unless you counted their dogs), and Jasmine and Aladdin's kid wasn't even in high school yet, there wasn’t anyone else at Auradon prep to throw such a hissy fit about how their family had apparently been (or would be) personally victimized by the isle kids. Didn’t stop folks from trying, though.

The teachers didn’t help much, neither. They were probably just as scared of the new kids as anybody else, which was actually kinda pathetic. Imagine slaying a fucking dragon or something and then being scared by a teenager. Yeah. Pretty ridiculous.

But then the kids actually showed up, and things got even wilder. Of course, as Ben’s personal favorite non-soulmate-fling, Audrey was there when the kids finally got off the isle. Her tale was probably exaggerated, but she described the four as crazy magical: Evil Queen Jr. with flaming blue hair, glowing skin, and an actual _presence_ of magic. Jafar’s kid with flaming-hot manacles around his wrists (and a really creepy vibe, apparently). Mini Maleficent as all Maleficent-y (she really played up the I’ve-been-traumatized-by-the-daughter-of-my-mother’s-villain bit here, so nobody really caught much about what Mal was like aside from _evil_ ). De Vil as… Well, Audrey didn’t say much about the DeVil kid. Most people didn’t. But who could blame them, really? Jafar was a badass and scary-as-fuck ex-sorcerer-slash-genie. Maleficent was one of the most evil faeries on the planet. The Evil Queen had tried to murder her own daughter out of jealousy. Cruella sucked, for sure, but she’d never killed an actual person. At least, nobody thought so.

But there was one other interesting thing about the four new kids: they all had soulmarks of each other. As in, three soulmarks each. It was pretty unheard of in Auradon. It wasn’t like it never happened, because it did, definitely, but it was stupid uncommon. Lots of the folks who had just one soulmate got all high-and-mighty about it, acting as if the multiple soulmarks must be some sort of mistake, like people who didn’t have any soulmarks at all. As if the dumb soulmate magic mysteriously worked for all them, but whatever deity or force of nature controlling these things somehow fucked up all the weirdos.

Chad really didn’t think that was the case. But whatever.

“You think the Isle kids know where to go for breakfast?” Doug asked shyly. He was being polite about it, but Chad could tell he didn’t really want to care.

“I reckon they ain’t even up yet,” he said. When Doug’s face fell, Chad just resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said, “I’ll get ‘em up and show ‘em around. You can go on.”

Doug threw Chad a relieved smile and scrambled off to breakfast. Chad sighed and lumbered out into the hallway, knocking on the new kids’ door. He tilted his ear against the door, and when he didn’t hear a response, he knocked again. “Carlos? Jay?”

He took a step back as the door suddenly swung open, and there was Mal. Purple hair, angry eyes, no horns.

He smiled as charmingly as possible. “My name’s Chad. Uh. I was gonna show y’all to the cafeteria and then maybe your first class? Uh, if you wanted?”

Mal looked him up and down in a way that made his cheeks go a little red. “Who are you?” she snapped.

“Uhmm, I’m Chad. I mean, Cinderella’s son.” He gave a little bow and a grin.

“Uh-huh,” said Mal before shutting the door in his face.

He heard voices (probably the other kids) and he wondered if that was a no? Maybe he should just go. He didn’t wanna be irritating. But-

The door swung open again, and Chad blinked when he saw the rumors were true. Grimmhilde’s daughter had flaming blue hair. And a pretty dashing smile, he had to admit.

“Sorry for Mal’s… rudeness,” said Evie. “If you don’t mind waiting, we’ll be out in just a minute?”

“Uh, yeah, no worries,” Chad said, grinning. “Just hurry, the cafeteria closes in like a half an hour.”

Five minutes later, the door swung open again, and there was… Jay, Chad assumed. Waaayyyy more attractive than Chad would’ve guessed for a son of Jafar. The other three followed him out, bunching up in the hallway. Carlos wasn’t too bad, neither.

“I guess I shouldn’t bother mentioning that y’all-” he motioned to Evie and Mal with a joking grin “-aren’t supposed to be on this floor?”

Mal just gave him a cold look, and nobody else said anything, so Chad just cleared his throat and started walking. “Uh, this way.”

Chad wanted to fill the uncomfortable silence, but he also didn’t wanna offend none of the new kids. Of all people, he definitely wanted to stay on their good sides. Assuming that they had good sides.

“Your arms,” said Carlos, mercifully breaking the silence. “You have more than one… Mark.”

Chad raised an eyebrow at him. “You mean soulmark?”

“Uh,” Carlos shrugged, his cheeks turning an awkward red, “Yes.”

Chad just nodded. “It’s pretty unusual, and people’ll prolly give you shit for it, but it ain’t really a big deal. It’s just who you are, y’know?”

“What does it even mean?” Carlos asked, his words coming out in kind of a rush. “I mean, I know it’s like, soulmates or whatever, allegedly, but… By what definition of a ‘soulmate’?”

Chad grinned. “You’re a smart one. I dunno, honestly. I guess it just means y’all fit together. Like, your soulmate is somebody who you can really count on, because something big out there in the universe just knew y’all’d click.”

“Right,” said Carlos, and Chad could tell he hadn’t really answered his question.

“If you want a more… Precise answer, you should probably talk to one of the teachers or somethin’. I’m not really one for fancy educated definitions and all that,” Chad said, hoping maybe that would help Carlos figure out whatever he was trying to figure out.

“Right,” Carlos said again, but Chad could feel the way his voice lifted.

“Who’re your soulmates, or whatever?” asked Jay.

Chad spun a little to walk backwards for a few moments, holding out his arms. “One’s Lonnie. She’s a dear, but she could kick all y’all’s asses in combat, I’ll bet.” He winked. “Her mom’s Mulan, which makes a lotta sense. I dunno who the other one is, I’ve never met ‘em.”

He started to drop his arms and spin back around, but Jay grabbed his wrist. Chad tensed for a second until he realized Jay was just looking at his soulmark.

“How do you know who the person is based on just a first name?” asked Jay, dropping his arm.

“Well. Usually, you just _know_ , ya know? They just fit. And it’s not just the name, it’s the patterns, see? Like how y’all’ve got magic symbols on your arms, prolly for Mal,” he gestured to Carlos, Jay, and Evie. “See? If you really look, you can see your soulmate’s soul on your arms.” He grinned. “That is, if you wanna be all dramatic about it.”

“Dude,” Jay said, “I totally fucked your soulmate.”

Chad choked down laughter and started coughing, and he could see Mal elbow Jay violently in the ribs. Jay just grinned at her and nudged her gently back.

“Yeah?” Chad finally said, fighting down a smile. The smile faded a little then. “You’re for real?”

“I mean, it seems like it to me,” Jay said. “Your tattoo’s all sciency and shit. There’s only one other person I know that’s as sciency as Carlos, and his name’s Garrick, which is exactly what your tat says.” After a long pause, Jay adds, “I fucked him at a party one time. It wasn’t, like, a regular thing, so you can have dibs.”

“Uh,” Chad choked out, his head kinda spinning. He hadn’t ever even thought that maybe his missing partner was from the isle. “Who… I mean…”

“Wonderland kid,” said Mal. “Allegedly the son of the King and Queen of Hearts, but everybody’s pretty sure that Gaston’s the real dad.”

Right, wow. Okay. He was gonna need a hot minute to process this.

“Okay,” said Mal, crossing her arms. “You said you were gonna take us to the cafeteria. Stop standing there like somebody just killed your mom in front of you.”

“Right,” he said, feeling his cheeks heat up as he started back towards the cafeteria. “Yeah. Right.”

Holy fuck.

\---

**8:55 AM.**

Audrey had just been sipping her protein shake, early to combat class, minding her own fucking business, when it happened.

It was like any other early morning in the arena: cool, windy, and empty. This was her sacred space. She skipped breakfast pretty much every day just so she could come hang out here before her next class. Sometimes Phoebus would be there and he’d rope her into helping him with odds and ends around the arena. Sometimes she’d be alone. It was peaceful. She got her best thinking done in the arena.

And then, five minutes before class was supposed to start, in walked Chad Charming with the isle kids. Audrey was surprised to see Chad with them. Admittedly, she didn’t know the guy that well at all—he mostly kept to himself and his little group—but that just made it weirder to her that he’d attached to the isle kids so quickly. Whatever.

But what was even worse was that they were _here_ . In _this_ class. Would Phoebus—or any administrator of this school—really let them participate in a class on how to hurt people?

Mal smiled sarcastically at her when she saw her. Audrey just glared back.

She could hear Chad talking from here.

“Well, uh. This is y’all’s stop. I hope I run into y’all later,” he said. None of the isle kids responded, of course.

“Right,” Chad said awkwardly. “Anyways. Come on, Evie, class starts in less than five minutes now.”

Apparently little miss Hades had decided to abstain from this particular class. Good for her.

As Chad and Evie left, Audrey pointedly looked straight ahead, sipping the last of her smoothie. She pretended she didn’t hear when Mal muttered something to the other two about what she’d do to Audrey if they were still on the isle.

Audrey really hoped that Phoebus would pit her against Mal. She would really enjoy beating the shit out of that little faery.

Ben and Lonnie showed up before Phoebus did, which was weird. Normally those two were super late. She waved them over and they reluctantly came to join her, glancing awkwardly at the isle kids. Lonnie smiled and waved at the four of them, and Audrey glared.

“What?” said Lonnie, her voice soft. It felt weird to be loud in such a large, quiet space. “I’m just being nice.”

“Whatever,” was all Audrey said.

The bell rang. They all just waited.

“Soooo,” said Mal, and Audrey could feel her eyes narrowing. “I thought that class was supposed to have started by now?”

“It was,” Ben admitted. “Uh, the instructor’s just late, I guess.”

“Probably has something to do with you three getting into this class,” Audrey said, finally looking over at Mal. The two glared for a few moments, and Audrey was sure it would have turned into a staring contest if Phoebus hadn’t finally walked in.

“Well,” he said, “I guess we should get this party started. We’ll pair up, see where the new kids are skill-wise. Audrey, with Carlos. Lonnie with Jay, Mal with Zephyr. Ben, you can spar with me for practice after we finish the assessments. All clear?”

Of course he stuck her with the scrawny isle kid. She’d probably get herself in deep trouble if she actually did fight Mal.

“What’re the rules to the match?” Carlos asked. “I mean, I’m assuming we’re not fighting to kill or wound here.”

“Keep your partner disabled on the ground for ten seconds,” said Phoebus, settling Carlos with one of his stern, I-will-fuck-your-shit-up-if-you-cross-me looks, “or let them yield. They can yield verbally or by tapping out. Fight dirty, and you will not be welcome in this class anymore.”

Carlos exchanged a look with Mal and Jay and just shrugged. “Okay.”

Audrey tossed her cup in the trash before strolling over to one of the fighting mats. “Hand to hand or?”

“Hand to hand,” Phoebus confirmed. Nobody wanted to let the isle kids get their hands on a weapon.

Carlos walked over to stand on the opposite side of the mat. He didn’t get into a fighting stance, per se, but his feet were spread a bit and he was turned slightly away from her, his hands curling to fists in front of his chest.

“On my mark,” Phoebus said, watching the kids line up. Ben was sitting on a bench, his foot tapping out a too-quick rhythm.

“Go,” Phoebus said, and Audrey didn’t have time to blink before Carlos sprung into action.

He ran at her in a wildly aggressive way that she’d never encountered before, wrapping around her like a tree and slamming her to the ground before she had time to react or think or get a grip.

She was _not_ going to get beat by some scrawny asshole whose mom was locked up for skinning puppies.

He reached for her wrists to pin her, but she yanked them away, swinging one at the side of his head. He ducked and her momentum carried her fist forward, twisting her arm painfully. Instead of complaining, she yanked her elbow down around the back of his neck and pulled, shoving his face down into the mat.

He was off-balance, and she took the opportunity to knock his leg away from her so she could spin out from under him. She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, straddling his back to keep him stuck on the ground.

He laughed, and she felt chills crawl up her back.

“Nice tattoo,” he remarked. The side of his face was pressed painfully to the floor, but she could see his eyes flicker towards the soulmark on her left arm.

“What the-”

FUCK. Her vision went a little hazy and her head went a little woozy. He’d fucking elbowed her, she was so stupid, so fucking-

While she was disoriented, he flipped her under him, pinning her arms to the floor beside her head and grinning, his face looming just above hers. She wanted to knee him, but she felt like her legs had buckled.

“You don’t know yours, either, do you?” When she gave him a blank look, he continued. “Your soulmate?”

Then she glared, and she did knee him, right where it would hurt. She could see the pain on his face, and he didn’t let go of her, but his grip weakened plenty and she shoved him off her. Her movements were slower and weaker than normal, but she had enough left in her to shove him into the ground, straddling his waist to hold him down and pinning his arms.

She nearly threw up as she fought off a wave of dizziness, glaring down at him.

He just looked up at her and laughed. In seconds, he’d spun them again so that she was under him again. She fought down a wave of nausea and tried to get a grip on her surroundings.

“It’s funny,” said Carlos. “Less than an hour ago, we were having this exact conversation with Prince Charming.”

“What conversation,” she gritted out. She knew she wasn’t gonna win this fight, so she’d stopped trying, but there was no way she was gonna _tap out_. She could wait ten seconds to spare her dignity.

“About how his mysterious soulmate,” Carlos paused, undoubtedly for dramatic effect, “is a dirty isle bitch just like us.”

Oh. Oh. Ooooohhhh.

“Fuck you,” she muttered just as Phoebus yelled for Carlos to get off her.

She felt like she was in a haze as Phoebus came over to help her up, muttering something about a concussion. She glanced over at the other pairs, and it was obvious that the isle kids were pretty much beating their asses. Then she glanced over at Carlos.

If she was being honest with herself, she’d never really wanted to find this out.

“Who is he,” she said, her voice dry.

Carlos snickered. “Her name’s Freddie Facilier. That mark you’ve got? That’s her tag.”

Oh.

Oh.

Ooohh fuckkk.

\---

**9:44 AM.**

There was something weird about Evie. She was this self-possessed, badass, literal demigod, but she sort of seemed to only half-exist. You wouldn’t notice at first, but the more she talked—or the more she didn’t, really—the more obvious it was. She just seemed kinda faded, like she wasn’t really interested in anything that was going on around her. It was difficult to explain, but Chad thought he understood it. The look in her eyes was pretty darn familiar.

Class had gone pretty smoothly, at least. He’d seen all the dirty looks she’d gotten, but she hadn’t seemed to care. Aside from her flaming hair and her general… isle-ness, she fit into the class just fine. She seemed to already know everything, and he couldn’t help but wonder why she was in the class at all.

The bell rang for the end of the period, and he caught her eyes as they stood up. “Want me to walk you to your next class?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

“What class’ve you got?”

She shrugged again, pulling a carefully-folded schedule from her skirt pocket. “Health and medicine.”

“Ooooh, you’ve got Tremble. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly, following him out the door.

He looked at her, really looked at her, for a second, and she glared. “What do you want?”

“Are you okay?” he asked. He could tell she was thrown by the question.

“Of course I am. What do you mean, am I okay?”

He shrugged. “You just seem… I dunno. Not happy. Not really there. Kind off? Y’know? I mean, all I’m saying is… I mean, my mom was depressed for a long time. Like, clinically, y’know, therapist, meds, all that. And you just remind me of her.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not sad. And I’m not sick. And I’m not weak.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying, I just-”

“What are you saying, then? Really, Charming. What’s it to you?”

“I just…” He grimaced. “‘M’sorry, I know it’s not my business, I don’t mean to be rude. I just mean… I know they wouldn’t prolly have any way to help with that stuff where you’re from. But I mean… You can get help here. That’s all I’m saying.”

She laughed, and the cold emptiness he heard was truly chilling. Her grin was equally unnerving. “I. Don’t. Need. Help. I’ve been fending for myself for as long as I can remember. I’ve never needed anybody’s _help_ , and I sure as hell don’t need it now. So you can fuck off with your fake sympathy and your condescension and your… Just… Fuck off, Charming. I’ll get to my next class on my own.”

She’d attracted more than a bit of attention, but he didn’t really care. He just watched as she stormed off, feeling guilt tug at his stomach.

\---

**10:37 AM.**

Evie was absolutely, completely, utterly done with Auradon. She was done with these stupid classes, these stupid people, this stupid school. She was done with herself. She was just _done_.

She hadn’t seen any of her friends since breakfast, and the stress of dealing with all of this alone had really been getting to her. It was a serious relief to be with all three of them again for an entire period.

It wasn’t even a real class, either. It was some dumbass exercise invented by faery godmother called Remedial Goodness. The isle kids were the only ones in the class, which Evie definitely counted as a plus. It would be four to one instead of one to twenty.

Her head was spinning and she felt a deep ache in the pit of her stomach, but she grinned when she ran into Jay on her way to third period. He ruffled her hair, which felt weird, what with its fiery-ness, and swung his arm around her shoulders.

“How’ve you been, princess?” He smiled down at her, and she leaned a little further into him as they walked, stopping just outside a room labeled 108 to wait for Mal and Carlos.

“Just peachy,” she said, but she knew he could hear the weariness and anger in her voice. “How was combat?”

She almost laughed at the way he grinned. “We all kicked some absolute ass. You should’ve been there. I still don’t understand why you would’ve ever picked _Charms_ over fucking Combat.”

She shrugged, fighting the fading of her smile. “It’s easier to pass with zero effort. Plus, I like when people underestimate me. Makes it easier to fuck their shit up.”

Jay laughed. “Fair enough, princess.”

“Waiting on us?” Mal called as she approached, Carlos in tow. Evie nodded, and Jay let go of Evie to shove the door open.

“Let’s get this shit over with,” he muttered, holding the door open just long enough for the other three to come inside.

“Watch your language,” Fairy Godmother said from the front of the classroom. Her voice wasn’t angry, exactly, but it was… Stiff? Reprimanding? Unsettling.

No one responded, but Jay rolled his eyes at her as soon as she turned her back. The four of them grabbed seats in the back row, which felt kinda weird, since Fairy Godmother was all the way up at the front of the room. Still, the doorway was closer, just in case anything went sideways.

Godmother was stritch-scratching on the chalkboard with bright blue chalk. She was in the way, so Evie couldn’t see what she was writing, but she wasn’t excited to find out.

Mal turned to Evie, smiling gently. “How was charms?”

“Boring,” Evie admitted, forcing herself to smile back.

“Of course it was, without us,” said Carlos, leaning over Mal to grin at her. Jay gave an exaggerated nod from three seats over.

“What about combat?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I kicked Audrey’s ass, for one,” Carlos said, ignoring Fairy Godmother’s glare. “For two, guess what? Her soulmate is Freddie fucking Facilier.”

Evie gaped, then grinned as Fairy Godmother dropped the chalk. “Wow.”

Fairy Godmother turned to glare at them, hands on hips, as the bell finally rang to begin the class. She looked ridiculous, honestly. It was like all her anger didn’t really fit on her.

“Rule one,” she said, her voice like ice. “You swear in my class—or any class, for that matter—you will be punished.” She let the words hang in the air, letting the kids imagine what an Auradon-style punishment would entail. “Am I clear?”

Evie nodded slowly, but none of them said anything.

“Am I _clear_?” Fairy Godmother asked again, clearly expecting a verbal answer.

“Yes,” they all said. Evie’s voice was too quiet, and she could practically hear Mal seething. All four of them probably looked just about ready to kill her. Mal had probably at least considered a couple ways to do it already.

“Good,” said Fairy Godmother. “I understand that you have been exposed to extremely negative influences at very young ages, but misbehavior will not be tolerated here.” She took a moment, rearranging her expression to be less aggressive. When she spoke again, her voice sounded like a false kind of compassionate. “Carlos,” she said, and all four of them suddenly snapped to attention. “You gave Audrey a concussion this morning. Do you regret it?”

“It was a combat class,” he said, his voice full of disbelief.

“That’s not what I asked,” Fairy Godmother said. “I do understand that it was a combat class, but the four of you are going to be held to different standards due to your… Situation. You should not intentionally injure another student in any way under any circumstances. It’s wrong to hurt other people, after all. You are in that class to learn how to fight cleanly, not to ‘kick their asses.’ Am I clear?”

There was a long silence before Carlos finally, quietly said, “Crystal.” Anyone could tell just by looking in his eyes that he didn’t like what she was saying at all, but they all knew it was the right answer.

“So what do you think you should do?”

Carlos frowned, looking genuinely confused. “...not do it again?”

Fairy Godmother frowned at him. “You should apologize,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She saw the lightbulb go off in Carlos’s head. “Ooh, right. Yes.”

“Good. Jay,” said the Godmother, turning to her next victim. “You never arrived at your second period class. Where were you?”

“Rescuing kittens from trees?” Jay joked, grinning nonchalantly at the faery.

“Rule number two: don’t sass me,” Fairy Godmother said, glaring for a moment before cleaning up her expression again. “Where were you?”

Jay looked a little pale, and he was drumming his fingers on the table like he always did when he was afraid of being caught in a lie. “I went to my room. I didn’t want to go to… writing or whatever. I can write just fine, I know all the letters.”

Was he deliberately goading her?

If he was, it was working. Her voice was so icy, Evie was sure she felt an actual chill. “You cannot skip class just because you feel like it. That’s another rule. You should know better.”

“Right,” Jay said, but he almost looked relieved when he should have been scared. He’d definitely lied. She wondered where he’d really been, and why he was so anxious to keep the Godmother from knowing.

Fairy Godmother paused for a moment, studying him, then said simply, “Consider this your first warning. Any further behavior like this, and you can expect to regret it.”

Evie did not like how ominous she was being _at all_.

Jay just nodded.

“Evie,” said the Godmother, and Evie stiffened. “You had an altercation with Mr. Charming in the hallway this morning that attracted quite a lot of attention. Apparently, you swore at him, unprovoked, multiple times. Care to explain yourself?”

Evie bit her lip, hesitantly looking up at the Godmother. “No. I mean… I’m sorry. It was inexcusable, so I’m not going to even try to justify what I did. I’m just sorry.”

Fairy Godmother looked surprised, but none of the other kids did. They knew she was the best actor out of the whole lot of them.

The Godmother gave her a little nod, and she saw the slightest smile appear on the woman’s face. Easily manipulated. That was in Evie’s favor, at least. Then the woman looked to the other kids and pointed at Evie, saying, “You all could learn a thing or two from your soul mate. She understands how to be respectful, at least.”

Mal snorted, and Evie could see Carlos stiffen a little. None of them were comfortable with the “soulmate” thing yet, not at all. It was just too awkward and strange. Every time some Auradonian brought it up, it was like someone had slapped them all in the face.

Whatever the magic said, it wasn’t like they were soul mates, anyways, exactly. Sure, they were a team, they were a gang, they were close. They’d fooled around with each other some, even. But it wasn’t anything… Romantic, or intense, or… Whatever the Auradonians thought it was. They didn’t look anything like Chad did with Lonnie or Beast did with Beauty.

“Yeah, about that, sort of,” said Carlos. “What _exactly_ do you mean by ‘soulmate’? I mean, it’s not like we’re magically in love with each other.” Jay snorted and Mal grinned.

Fairy Godmother looked a little frazzled for a moment, like she had no idea how to explain the concept, like the very idea of having to _explain_ it was abhorrent. “Well,” she started, “To be frank with you, I doubt that. I’ve never seen a group of friends so… Close with each other. I understand that, due to your upbringing, you may have some issues with emotional connections and such, but-”

“Stop,” said Evie, surprising herself. “Just stop.”

Mal nudged her and raised her eyebrows, looking at her like “you good?” She could see Carlos’s and Jay’s concerned faces beyond her.

“Excuse me?” said the Godmother.

“I mean- I just-” Evie’s voice came out weaker than she’d intended for it to. She couldn’t summon the energy to care. “I just don’t want to talk about it. That wasn’t what he’d asked.”

“It was, actually,” said Fairy Godmother. “He asked what they mean. They mean that your destinies are wrapped up in each other, that you will remain intertwined until death do you part.” She smiled at her own poeticism, and Evie had to resist the urge to glare. “Traditionally, it entails a close, romantic, usually… Sexual relationship. Above all, it is a magical connection, one more powerful than any other.”

“If it’s all magic, why can’t people just fu- mess around with it?” Mal asked, leaning forward, hand under chin.

“If by ‘mess around with it,’ you mean destroy it, then the answer is that no one is as powerful as the universe itself, dear.”

“No, I mean mess around with it. Like, telepathy, or necromancy, or?”

Fairy Godmother’s expression darkened. “As you probably already know, most magic in Auradon is forbidden. Admittedly, some magics are allowed for more than others.” She paused, looking all four of them in the eyes. “Any magic to do with the soulmate bond is forbidden under penalty of death.”

There was a long silence before Mal let out a long breath that verged on a laugh. “Must be pretty powerful stuff.”

“Believe me when I say you never want to find out,” the Godmother warned.

“We do,” said Carlos quietly. Mal looked like she wanted to protest, but Carlos shot her a look that got her to keep her mouth shut.

“Good,” said Fairy Godmother, focusing on Carlos. “Did I answer your question?”

He shrugged. “Sort of, I guess.”

“What do you not understand?” She was getting impatient, Evie could tell.

“Nothing,” Carlos said hurriedly. “I mean, I was just curious, you know. And stuff like this, it brings up more questions than answers.”

The Godmother’s expression softened. “Well, always feel free to ask.”

“Right,” Carlos said, and Evie could see his discomfort in the tension of his shoulders.

“Well,” said the Godmother. “If there are no more questions, then I believe we can officially begin class.”

\---

**12:39 PM.**

Audrey hadn’t spoken to a single person at lunch. She hadn’t showed up to lunch, actually. She’d gone to the library and brushed up on everything there was to know about the Princess and the Frog tale.

Facilier was a terrifying motherfucker.

She could not _believe_ that her _soulmate_ was his fucking _daughter_.

His _daughter_ , no less. Who named a girl Freddie? She’d spent literally her entire _life_ trying to figure herself out, to figure out why she’d be soul bonded to some dude named Freddie when she couldn’t even bring herself to be attracted to Ben, literally the most powerful (and allegedly most attractive) guy in this school, in this country, yet she’d gotten butterflies in her stomach every time Lonnie grabbed her hand in a crowd.

And she’d never even considered that maybe, just maybe, somebody had given their daughter a boy’s name. She felt like an absolute _idiot_.

Maybe it would’ve been more obvious to her if it hadn’t been for all the expectations. Because of course, there were same-sex couples, and no one would ever disrespect their soulmate bond, not really, but they also weren’t exactly prominent. They tended to fade to the background. After all, you couldn’t father a dynasty without a father in the picture. You needed to have your own kids to be _real_ royalty.

She could just hear her mother’s voice, her whole life, telling her how wonderful it would be when she finally met her soulmate. How she’d see _his_ face and hear _his_ voice and just _know_ and it would be love at first sight and she would have the most beautiful kids and-

And she could just feel that little pang in her heart every time she saw Lonnie making out with Chad, every time the guilt yanked at her heart for ever even thinking about her best friend the way she did. For betraying her soulmate, who was _a boy, by the way_ , right? For betraying her mother, whose only wish in life was to see her daughter happy and married to a man, even if maybe she couldn’t be both of those things at once.

She didn’t realize she was actually crying until she heard footsteps approaching her hiding spot. She tried to just wipe the tears away, but she knew her eyes were red and her makeup was smeared and whoever was here had probably already heard her.

She looked up and immediately glared. Her voice was much more raw and scratchy that she would’ve liked. “What do you want?”

Jay raised an eyebrow at her. “You look like shit.”

She glared harder. “Shit, thanks.”

Jay laughed, the fucking asshole, then crouched beside her. “What. Do. You. Want?” she snapped, again.

He raised his hands in front of him, his amused grin fading a little bit. “I dunno. Nothing, I guess. I was just curious about who decided the best place to bawl their eyes out was the theatre, which, by the way, is gonna be full of students in like, two minutes. I know, because I’m one of those students.”

“Fuck, I didn’t realize the time,” she said, pulling out her phone and muttering some more choice words under her breath. She sighed heavily. “I look like shit.”

He scoffed. “So you can say it, but I can’t?”

She glared again. “Shut the fuck up.”

He laughed again, insufferably, and stood, holding out a hand to her. “Come on. Rinse that shit off your face and then explain to me what a theatre cube is and where I can find one.”

She rolled her eyes, reluctantly reaching out to take his hand. “Mrs. Sullivan have you running errands already?”

He grinned and started to pull her up, but he didn’t have the chance to respond before he vanished into thin air, leaving a faint trail of smoke in his wake. She fell back on her ass, staring at the space where he’d been just moments ago.

“What. The fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also y'all i gotta admit,,, i've had this written for like actual days but i wanted to make sure it was perfect so i've been combing through it over and over and wondering if maybe i was taking this fic in the wrong direction but then i was like the only way i'm gonna know is if i post it y'know?? so please let me know what y'all think of this chapter!! did you like reading from chad's and audrey's perspectives? how do you feel about the set up in auradon? about the fairy godmother's character? chad's accent (i couldn't resist)? the combat scene? etc etc anyways i hope y'all liked it and i should be posting soon again!! the goal is by the end of this week, fingers crossed :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for updating a little late!! lol the weekend ended up being a lot busier than i anticipated. i hope y'all like this chapter tho!! also to everyone who celebrates, i hope you had a blessed litha!! <3

**First Monday of August, 12:46 PM.**

“Carlos DeVil, Mal, and Evie to the office. That is Mal, daughter of Maleficent, and Evie, daughter of Grimhilde. Carlos DeVil, Mal, and Evie to the office immediately.”

The intercom was a weird device to get used to. It wasn’t the weirdest thing in Auradon, not by a long shot, but Carlos still jumped a little every time the loud, disembodied voice clicked on overhead.

He looked over at Evie, who looked just as confused as he was. What’d they do now? Also, why wouldn’t Jay be called to the office, too? It sure sounded like something to do with them being the villain kids or whatever. So…

Was Jay hurt?

His attention snapped to Chad. “Which way is the office, exactly?” This school was like a goddamn maze.

“Uh, I can just show you the way there, I guess,” said Chad, hesitantly grabbing his notebook and swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“Lead the way,” said Carlos, he and Evie grabbing their own stuff and following Chad out the door.

They ran into Mal in the hallway. Her class was just a few doors over, and they were pretty much the only people in the hallway, so they caught eyes immediately. She looked kinda pissed, but she always did, so Carlos didn’t think much of it.

“What class does Jay have right now?” she asked, her mind clearly on the same track as Carlos’s.

He winced a little. “I don’t know. I haven’t memorized all of our schedules yet.”

Mal pursed her lips and looked at Chad, who just started walking again, mumbling, “This way.”

Fairy Godmother was waiting for them in the office, looking monumentally pissed off. Carlos could’ve sworn that there was actually smoke pouring out of her ears.

“You three,” she hissed, grabbing Evie’s arm and practically dragging her into the office, “Have a lot of explaining to do.”

Mal smacked her arm away from Evie, and Carlos could tell that she was on the verge of breaking out whatever faery magic she had and making a mess of the situation. When Mal opened her mouth to speak, Carlos interrupted.

“Where’s Jay?”

The Fairy Godmother glared. “That’s what I was going to ask you three.”

There was a long silence—okay, not really that long, but it felt like forever—before Mal spoke. Her voice was so low Carlos could hardly hear it.

“You’re saying that he’s just fucking disappeared?”

“Watch your language,” said the Godmother, her voice dropping to match Mal’s. Carlos felt like he was about to witness some sort of grandiose faery duel.

“Okay, look, calm down, please,” he said, gently putting a hand on Mal’s shoulder. She didn’t jerk away and nobody yelled, which he took as a good sign. “Okay, Fairy Godmother, we don’t have any idea where Jay would be. Which is obviously stressful, so please take our word when we say we aren’t behind this. Would you please tell us what happened and why his disappearance led you to call us to the office?”

“Magic is involved, that’s why,” she snapped, although her voice was less harsh than it had been a minute ago. “Audrey was with him; she came in here telling us he’d just vanished in a puff of smoke right before their class was supposed to start.”

Carlos went rigid.

“Smoke?” he repeated, his voice feeling a little far away.

“Yes,” Fairy Godmother said, and he could practically _feel_ the sudden, intense suspicion in her voice.

Fuck. Fucking hell, he’d been right. Too right.

And too late.

He caught Evie’s eye, and the look on her face told him that she knew exactly what he knew.

“Explain yourself,” Fairy Godmother snapped.

“I, uh. He- Well- Um-”

Mal cut him off, praise Hades. “Well, he’s probably a genie and stuff, so. That might explain it.”

Fairy Godmother glared at Mal’s flippancy. “One cannot be born a genie.”

Mal shrugged.

Carlos cleared his throat. “Well, um, I think he might be. After all, the only reason genie-ness or whatever isn’t traditionally considered heritable is, uh, y’know. Genies can’t… reproduce. But Jafar did, because cutting off the magic somehow un-genied him, or something like that. So…”

Fairy Godmother took a moment, considering Carlos’s words. Then she sighed heavily, lifting a hand to her face and muttering, “Damn.”

\---

**1:08 PM.**

Evie felt awake for the first time in weeks. Her heart was racing, her palms were sweating, and she was pretty sure her vision was going a little fuzzy. Everything felt like it had suddenly been ramped up.

She was just so, so so scared for Jay.

Not only were they in a foreign land with hardly any weapons, a terrible lack of control over their own magic, and only a vague understanding of the method of operation of the people surrounding them, but one of them was _lost_. Probably not even in the same country as them any more, whisked away by some mysterious and ancient magic that none of them understood.

She felt absolutely terrified.

But that terror made her powerful.

She was going to end any person or creature who so much as touched him.

She met Carlos’s eyes and saw her expression mirrored on his face. He gave her a little nod and gentle nudge before saying, “We’re gonna find him.”

“What about Jasmine and Aladdin?” she asked, blessedly keeping her voice from shaking. “What if they find him first?”

“They won’t,” Mal said, her voice grim as she swung open the doors to the library.

It seemed like a weird place to go in a time of crisis, but it held a shocking amount of information—any of which might help them. And they damn sure weren’t going back to class, as Fairy Godmother had ordered.

“I’ll find as much as I can on how this whole genie-ish thing might be working,” said Carlos. “Evie, find some of the tales about Aladdin and Jasmine and check the endings, see if any of them say or hint at where Jafar’s lamp was stored, or what happened to it. Mal, see if you can find any magic that could help us. Spells, potions, whatever, just something that could help us find or communicate with him.”

Mal grinned like a cat with a mouse. “Hell yeah. Let’s do this.”

She took off in seconds, although Evie wasn’t sure that Mal knew exactly where she was going.

Evie looked to Carlos, offering a smile that she didn’t feel but that she hoped would be reassuring, before she headed off to find a librarian.

There was one sitting behind a huge desk in the main foyer, so Evie hesitantly approached her. She was wearing a pin on her shirt that said _Gemma_. Evie assumed that was her name.

“How may I help you?” asked the library, her voice a little irritated but her eyes betraying her fear. Evie couldn’t help but grin a little at the woman.

“I’m looking for some books on the Jafar story.” When the woman gave her a weird look, she said, “Um, I mean, the Aladdin and Jasmine story, or whatever you want to call it. The one about them.”

The woman didn’t want to help her, it seemed, from the purse of her lips, but she nodded to an aisle. “Follow that towards the back of the library. It’s near the left corner, on a glass shelf. You can’t miss it. All the storybooks are there.”

Evie nodded to the librarian and took off in the direction she’d indicated. She wasn’t running, not really, because that would look ridiculous, but she was hurrying. She just wanted to get the books and solve the puzzle and find Jay and have all this be over with already. She needed to know he was safe.

She felt a chill go over her as she lost sight of Carlos, forging ahead into the depths of the library. One of the lights overhead flickered, and Evie couldn’t help but shudder.

There wasn’t anything to be afraid of.

This wasn’t the isle.

Nothing looked at all like the isle here. Nothing. It was too large, too clean, too beautiful. It was just a fucking light.

So she kept going, her footsteps quickening a bit as she looked for the glass bookcase. She would never have admitted it, but she was frightened. Of _nothing_.

She jumped when she heard a pinging sound somewhere in front of her and to the right. It sounded like someone had dropped a coin or something on the marble floor, but… She hesitantly took a few steps forward, peering through the shelves, and she saw no one.

Something must have fallen off of a bookcase. Maybe.

Shit.

She had to get a grip. Had to stop freaking out. None of this was any actual indication of a threat. She took a deep breath and continued forward, keeping her eyes peeled.

There. Just a few aisles ahead of her, she could see the glint of the glass bookshelf. She sped up despite herself, _there’s nothing there_ , she knew there wasn’t, but also the lights were getting dimmer and Jay just disappeared and she was on her own and what was that noise?

As soon as she reached the shelf, she started grabbing at titles, any that seem to relate to the Agrabah story. She could read them back in the main hall of the library instead of waiting here, in this creepy ass corner of the library.

Her arms full of books, she rushed from the aisle, forcing herself not to run, because she’s just being crazy, she knows it.

Something grabs her by the back of her neck, and she screams, her books crashing to the floor.

\---

**1:17 PM.**

Mal heard Evie scream, and before she could even take a breath she was sprinting in the direction of the sound. She heard a series of thuds—books?

She skidded to a halt when she saw the pile scattered on the floor, swept out in an arc from where Evie had presumably been when…

“Evie?” Her voice was too soft, too shaky, she’d never hear, she- “Evie!”

She heard footsteps behind her, and Carlos ran past her, past the books, looking between the few aisles scattered in this corner of the library, spinning to face her.

They were both wide-eyed and breathing hard.

No. No no no no no.

Not Evie too.

\---

**1:18 PM.**

Carlos ran a hand through his hair and tried to breathe right, pacing. He had to figure this out. There was an explanation. There always was.

Jay made sense. He disappeared because he was a genie. That made _sense_.

Where the _fuck_ was Evie? Had she been attacked? If someone was out to get her, why wouldn’t they just attack her here? Why would someone have taken her anywhere?  
  
And, more importantly, where would they have taken her?

He swore, grabbing a heavy book and throwing it as hard as he could at the nearest bookcase. The glass shattered and the entire thing crashed to the ground.

They must have some sort of magic to have taken her. And since magic wasn’t legal, they must have also been villains, or friends of villains, or some sort of vigilante or rogue. Or they must have been powerful enough to be allowed to ignore the laws. Someone like Fairy Godmother.

He looked up at the sound of footsteps. He couldn’t see whoever was coming yet, but from the sound of it, they’d be here soon.

He grabbed Mal’s arm and started running towards the other back corner of the library. They’d have to loop around the oncoming librarians—guards?—to make it out of the library. They could _not_ be taken to the Fairy Godmother. Not right now.

She jerked to a stop before he could turn into an aisle to run back towards the main foyer. His eyes snapped to her face. “What?”

“There’s something here,” she whispered, looking down and shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Magic.

Evie.

He heard someone shouting over near the shattered bookcase, and he swore he could feel his heart skip a beat. “Well, how do we get to it? Hurry!”

Mal fell to her knees, pressing at the floor with her palms. He kept looking up, his focus torn between the oncoming footsteps and the beautiful, glowing symbols appearing beneath their feet.

“There,” she muttered, slamming her fist into the floor, and everything went black.

\---

**1:22 PM.**

Mal had never in her life felt a sense of _home_. Bargain Castle was a fortress, not a home, and her mother made certain that she never felt safe in that place. The isle was a wasteland. Auradon was foreign and strange and hostile.

But this… This little pocket of magic, this space carved into the library, felt like home. It felt safe. She breathed in deeply, absorbing the magic of this place.

As she breathed, light appeared. It was just a small glow around a strange silhouette, but it was enough to illuminate herself and Carlos.

She could feel his terror, feel how lost he felt. She grabbed his hand and smiled serenely, which almost seemed to scare him more. Oh well.

The glowing figure before them slowly gained a sense of movement, and Mal recognized what it was.

A faery.

They were the most beautiful person- creature- thing she’d ever seen. Their wings looked so delicate, but she could feel the power emanating from them.

“I am Orchid,” said the faery. “What are you searching for?”

As the glow grew, Mal could see more and more of her surroundings. She’d expected to have been in a small, empty chamber, but it seemed to be a mirror image of the library. But it… Wasn’t. She knew that. She didn’t know how, exactly, but she knew.

“Our friends,” she said. “Jay and Evie.”

Orchid tilted their head at her, a strange smile appearing on the faery’s face. “Friends?”

She just nodded.

“Hmm,” Orchid said. “Interesting.”

“Can you help us or not?” Carlos spat, his voice almost hoarse.

The faery turned to look at Carlos, their eyes flashing. “I can not interfere with the magic that contains your friends. I can, however, provide this.”

She held out a book to Carlos, and he didn’t have any idea where it came from, but he took it. He eyed her warily before glancing at the cover.

It was one of the oldest books he’d ever seen. Nothing was inscribed on the leather cover, but he could see words on the spine, faint but present: _The Magic of The Bond_.

He looked up at the faery again, his voice sounding very small. “Thank you.”

The faery gave him a small nod of acknowledgment before looking back at Mal.

“Daughter of Maleficent,” they said, their voice soft as snow. “How fares your mother?”

“Fine,” Mal said after a moment. Carlos could see her returning to normal, slowly—her cheeks regaining their color, her expression that fire, her voice that wary anger. _Finally_.

The faery looked confused for a moment. Their voice had an edge when they said, “Fine?”

“Yes,” Mal said. “Thank you for the book and your service. We would like to return now.”

The confusion persisted on the faery’s face for a few moments before it was replaced with fury.

“When are you going to release her?”

“We don’t know how,” Mal said hurriedly, but even Carlos could feel the lie in her voice.

“Liar,” the fairy hissed. Carlos moved to step in front of Mal just as the faery lunged, light exploding around them. He covered his eyes with an arm and-

Everything shifted. It was as if he’d been moved three inches to the left, but also like he’d been thrown in a blender. The dim, magical library had disappeared. So had the faery.

So had Mal.

He heard people shouting and running towards him. He knew he was back. He knew. But he-

He just curled in on himself, cringing away and trying to breathe. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Mal.

He curled his arms tightly around the book and-

The book.

He still had the book.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

He ran.

He felt someone grab at his collar, just barely felt it as he yanked away and ran for his life. He could barely process anything happening around him through the panic, but he knew how to fucking run.

And then someone stepped in front of him and he ran straight into them, knocking them both straight to the floor. Shit, shit. He shoved the book under his jacket and twisted, slamming them under him and shoving his forearm into their neck, choking them.

They tapped on his arm, and it took him a few moments to process that it wasn’t a guard, or an enemy, or even really a threat.

It was Audrey.

Just Audrey.

He let go of her and jumped away, ready to run again. He’d wasted time, precious time, he needed to _go_ -

She grabbed his arm, her eyes wide, and he could see the bruise forming on her neck. Her voice was raspy. “What is going on?”

He didn’t have time for an explanation. He had to _go_.

He took off. And he heard her chasing him, but he didn’t care. She could chase all she wanted. She wasn’t going to catch him.

Out of the library, down the hall. He skidded to a stop and turned the other way as he heard footsteps thudding in his direction. Too heavy, too many, to be students. Too many to take down.

He nearly ran into Audrey again, but he jumped around her and kept running. Down this hall, that one, this one, no idea where he was going. To his shock, Audrey very nearly kept up.

When he reached an empty corridor, he stopped. He grabbed her arm, using her momentum to swing her around and slam her into the nearest wall. He pushed against her throat again, more gently this time, to threaten, not to injure, and growled, “Tell me the way out of here.”

To his shock, she didn’t resist. She did glare. “Let me go and I’ll show you.”

More footsteps in another hall, too heavy. He didn’t have time to argue. He let her go, and she took off.

He followed.

\---

**2:15 PM.**

“Okay,” Audrey said, still a little bit out of breath. “What the fuck is going on?”  
She could see the exhaustion, the fear, the mistrust, written all over his face. She knew that he didn’t have any reason to give her an explanation. Except maybe because she’d just saved his ass.

She hadn’t meant to, exactly. She’d skipped fifth period, a little shaken. Who wouldn’t be? She was still reeling from her fight with Carlos that morning and his revelation about Freddie and Jay’s freaky disappearance. She hadn’t had it in her to get on stage and play the part of the pretty princess saved by the handsome knight.

Fuck that story, anyway. It might have been her mother’s, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to be hers.

She’d just been wandering when she saw them going into the library. Soldiers. In uniform and armed. The Fairy Godmother had undoubtedly called in some forces because of the isle kids.

Audrey didn’t trust them. So she followed them, winding around the far right of the library so they wouldn’t notice her. Then Carlos came running like his life depended on it, and she didn’t doubt that maybe it did.

She wasn’t going to let him die. Not even if he kept beating her up.

She’d meant to help him, to show him to a safe place, but he’d been too scared to take a second to let her talk. So she followed him. And shit, that boy could run. She’d thought she was gonna die of a heart attack by the time he slowed down.

Now they were safe. Hardly anyone even knew this place existed. It had been her and Lonnie’s little hideout when they were younger, back when the thrill of a secret passage was so novel that just being here felt exciting. They’d spent hours here, talking and wandering and crying. It was their sacred place.

And here was Carlos.

She sighed heavily, sinking to the floor beside him. “Where are the others?” That was the scariest part of this whole thing. She’d never seen him apart from the other three, but Mal and Evie had been nowhere to be seen. She just hoped that the soldiers hadn’t hurt them somehow.

“Gone,” he muttered, and she could hear all the fight leave his voice. “I don’t know where Evie is. Mal was… Taken by a faery, I think.” Shit. For her sake, they’d all better hope it was a Seelie faery and not one of Maleficent’s old cronies.

“Did the soldiers get Evie?” she asked gently.

He shook his head. He looked half-dead. “They came after.”  
  
She waited. “After…?”

“She disappeared,” he said, clearly not inclined to elaborate.

“Well, I can-” She stopped herself when she heard a rustling sound at the doorway. Someone was coming in.

Both her and Carlos jumped to their feet, slipping into fighting stances, but she relaxed when she saw Lonnie crawl through the curtain. She held out her arm so Carlos wouldn’t run forward and attack her, and Lonnie smiled.

Behind Lonnie came Chad, looking absolutely baffled.

“What are you doing here?” she managed to ask, looking between the two of them and dropping her arm. Carlos shifted, presumably dropping his combative posture.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Lonnie said, humor in her voice. “We heard the isle kids had tried to blow some shit up or do magic or something in the library. There’s soldiers crawling all over the place, but apparently they couldn’t find Carlos. And I couldn’t find you. I put two and two together.”

Audrey couldn’t help but shudder. Why, really, were there so many soldiers?

She didn’t think she wanted to find out.

“What happened? Really?” Lonnie asked, her voice more gentle this time as she looked to Carlos.

He kept his mouth shut.

“Look,” Chad said. “I know you don’t feel like trusting us, but I dunno that you’ve got much else help right now. Most other people aren’t very inclined to trust _you_ , neither. We can help. We wanna help. With the soldiers, with your soulmates.”

Carlos gave him a calculating look, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. “Really.”

“Really,” Chad said eagerly.

“Why.”

Chad paused, looking kind of at a loss for words.

Audrey took a deep breath. Fuck this. “The last time those soldiers were here,” she started, ignoring the sharp look that Lonnie gave her, “This entire school went to shit. They’d said that they were here because Dawn, one of my cousins, had committed some serious magical crime. They never told us what that crime was. None of us knew if they were telling the truth or not, and we still don’t. What we do know is that Dawn disappeared, everyone she’d ever spoken to was investigated, and none of us ever saw her again.”

“We don’t trust them or want them around or want to let them do what they did last time,” Lonnie said, her voice a little angry. “We want to help you because we all have spent the past three years wishing we’d done more for Dawn when they targeted her.

Carlos studied them for a few moments, then just said, “Okay.”

Chad perked up. “What d’you need us to do?”

“We need to go to the isle,” Carlos said, and immediately everyone tensed, full of questions and arguments. He shot a look at all of them.

“But why?” Lonnie asked, crossing her arms.

“We need help,” Carlos said, forging ahead before Chad could interrupt him. “You all aren’t enough. I hardly know you, I barely trust you, and none of you have the precise skill set I need.”

Audrey narrowed her eyes. “Who does?”

He looked at her and grinned. “Freddie Facilier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what did y'all think? I feel like this chapter was more abrupt and fast-paced than a lot of my previous ones, and it felt really weird leaving jay out of the whole thing, but. what did y'all like? dislike? i'm especially curious about what y'all thought about mal's scene with the faery, orchid. leave a comment!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay first of all,,, i just need y’all to know that all of your comments are giving me LIFE. it makes me so so happy to know that so many of you are really enjoying this fic!! it makes it so much more enjoyable to write and y’all are really just making this whole thing amazing, thank you so so much for your support and kindness <3 <3 and if there are any of you who love this story but don’t comment, thank you too!! i appreciate each and every one of you reading and keeping up with this story. i haven’t written creatively in pretty much a year because of some really intense mental stuff, so this story was an adventure into the unknown, just to see if i could click with an old passion again. seeing that i can but also that people really enjoy my work has honestly just brought back so much happiness into my life that i can’t thank y’all enough <3 <3 <3 much love!!! and i hope you enjoy this chapter ;)

**First Monday of August, 5:46 PM.**

“Okay, so,” said Lonnie, “Evie disappeared pretty much without a trace. Almost like it was into thin air. We don’t have much information there. And Mal… She’s still with the faery, I guess. Unless the faery’s taken her somewhere. Do we know anything about that specific faery? Any lore or anything?” She looked over at Chad, who was tiredly looking over a pile of rifled-through books.

“No luck on that,” he said. “Whoever that fae was, nobody knows anything about it. Or at least didn’t write it down and store that information in the school library.”

“Right.” She chewed on the eraser of her pencil, looking up at the ceiling. They’d all spent the past few hours putting their heads together, sorting through books that Chad had brought in from the library. Carlos was still reading the book that the faery had given him, and Audrey had just left to see if she could bring in some snacks.

Their plan was still in such shambles that she’d hardly call it a plan. There was just the vague idea of getting Facilier’s kid off the isle to help them do some sort of finding spell for Carlos’s soulmates, probably using super illegal soulbond magic. Lonnie still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that part. But it probably wasn’t going to matter, since none of them had any idea how to even get to the isle.

“Well, I have a lead on Jay, at least,” said Chad, looking up from his book. “At least, I think I do.”

Lonnie nodded to him. “What is it?”

“Okay, so the lamp disappeared the moment that Jafar was moved to the isle,” said Chad, which wasn’t really new information to any of them. They’d all suspected it. “But, before all of that, they stored the lamp somewhere. It doesn’t say where, exactly, it just says that it was a place that no one would ever look.”

Lonnie sighed, rubbing her temples. “Helpful,” she muttered. They were never gonna be able to get to these people. The isle thing was a bust, and she doubted that they’d ever be able to locate the missing three on their own. _This_ was why magic was illegal.

Chad winced. “Well… Where would nobody look?”

“Up Aladdin’s ass,” muttered Carlos, speaking for the first time in probably an hour. Nobody laughed.

“Anything useful in that book of yours?” she asked.

He looked up at her, nearly glaring. Everything he did seemed to be at least a little hostile.

“Not yet,” he admitted.

This was exhausting.

“Okay, look,” she said, careful to keep the frustration out of her voice so she didn’t upset Carlos, “I don’t think that we can do this. We have no way to get to the isle, so any soulbond magic—which is illegal, by the way—is off the table. Short of investigating the library again and trying to imitate whatever magic Mal did, I don’t think we can get to her or that faery. And we have absolutely no leads on Evie whatsoever. So… Maybe it’s time we try a different tack.”

Carlos narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “Like?”

“Like… Maybe we should involve our parents,” she said. At his incredulous expression, she added, “Not _your_ parents. And maybe not even Chad’s or Audrey’s, I guess, but… I’m sure that mine could help.”

“No,” he said flatly, looking into his book again and flipping a page.

“Why not?” she snapped. He was just being stubborn. Did he want to get his soulmates back or not?

“Because if they don’t help,” he says, without looking up, “then any shot we have is completely gone.”

“We don’t _have_ a shot right now,” she insisted.

“You don’t know that,” he said, looking up to glare at her. “Don’t you _dare_ bring this up to anyone outside this group, or I. Will. End. You.”

She couldn’t help the shudder that crawled up her spine. She didn’t know if he was serious or not, but she got the feeling that he was.

“Okay,” she said softly.

\---

**First Monday of August, 12:43 PM.**

One second, he was helping Audrey to her feet, and the next, he was in the middle of fucking nowhere. He could hardly see anything, it was so dark, but _shit_ , it was _hot_.

He blinked a couple of times, slowly adjusting to the light. There was a weird, golden-ish glow, but he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He turned around, looking, and came face to face with a veiled woman. Her eyes were wide with panic, and he felt sure that he looked the same.

“What-” he opened his mouth to speak, but then he heard a shout in the distance. The woman jumped at the sound, shoving a lamp (a _lamp_ , oh _shit_ ) underneath her veil and mumbling something. He couldn’t finish his sentence before everything went dark and dizzy, the world around him disappearing.

Next thing he knew, he was in a beautiful little prison. The walls were made of gold, and the whole place just smelled of luxury.

But there were no exits.

“Fuck.”

\---

**First Monday of August, 5:57 PM.**

The school felt like a warzone, and the soldiers had only been there for a few hours. It was genuinely creepy, and Audrey could tell she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. There was almost no one in the hallways; everyone was cooped up in their room.

There were guards at the stairwells now, too, watching to make sure that no one went on the wrong floor. She smiled vaguely at one before passing, repressing the urge to shudder.

She wasn’t surprised to see Jane sitting on the bed, cross-legged, typing furiously away on her laptop. Jane was in here more often than not. She wasn’t a recluse _exactly_ , but she also definitely wasn’t one of the popular kids.

She was still sweet, though. She smiled at Audrey when she came in, although Audrey could tell that the smile was strained.

“You run into the guy in the stairwell?” Jane asked, her fingers tapping away on her knee.

“Yep,” said Audrey, popping the _p_. “It’s really creepy.”

“Seriously,” said Jane. “I don’t know why my mother allows them to be here.”

“‘Cause she’s psycho,” muttered Audrey, starting to wrangle open her chest of drawers, looking for her stash. Jane definitely heard her, but she didn’t correct her. She knew better.

“What are you doing?” Jane asked softly, peering over to see what she was doing.

“Looking for snacks,” said Audrey, pulling a little box and a handful of papers outside of a drawer. “I think I’m gonna go to the lake and stress eat for awhile.”

Jane snorted. “I thought you were on a diet for the coronation or whatever.”

“That was before a horde of soldiers invaded the school,” she snapped, removing a false bottom from her drawer.

Jane shrugged, but Audrey could feel her eyes on her as she stuffed everything she had into her backpack: Snickers, granola bars, dried fruit.

“Well,” Audrey said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and smiling tightly as she headed out the door, “Bye.”

“Mhm,” said Jane as the door swung shut.

Now Audrey just needed to get back to the hiding spot without any soldiers catching where she was going. Hopefully there weren’t any soldiers on patrol there. Surely there wouldn’t be. The arena was absolutely desolate this time of day.

Luckily, she was right. No soldiers. But there _was_ Phoebus, and she couldn’t exactly just open up the wall and let herself in without giving away Carlos’s hiding spot. And as much as she trusted Phoebus, she didn’t know whether that was a good idea.

So she just waved and dropped her bag.

“Here to train?” he asked, looking up from his phone.

“Sure,” she said.

He nodded and set his phone aside, looking more serious than she’d ever seen him. “Hand-to-hand?”

“Swords. The wooden ones,” she said, nodding to the wall of weapons. He nodded back and grabbed two, tossing her one. She fell into a fighting stance immediately. She knew better than to let her guard down when she was sparring with him; sometimes she wondered if she’d ever be able to beat him in a match.

She knew she’d been smart to move so fast when he lunged at her.

She fell into the rhythm of it instantly. They sparred for several minutes in silence, shoving each other back and forth across the arena. She was panting for breath and sweating fucking everywhere and her arms were aching already.

But _fuck_ if she didn’t just love how this felt.

Even when she faltered and he swung his blade at hers, knocking it away. She jumped for it, but not before he pressed the edge of his practice sword against her neck.

She grinned ruefully. “I will beat you someday, you know.”

He grinned back. “I know.” He lowered his blade and caught his breath. “Rematch?”

She sighed. She really needed to figure out how to get him out of here, just for a few seconds, so she could get all this shit to Carlos and everyone. “Nah,” she said, grabbing her sword off the floor and handing it to him. “Another time, though.”

He gave her a strange look, his eyes flickering over to the secret entrance. Wait. He didn’t _know_ , did he?

He set the swords aside. “Look, Audrey. Is there anything you want to tell me?” At her long silence, he added. “I want to help. Please just let me help. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do… Whatever you’re doing alone.”

She hesitated, then sighed again. Carlos was probably gonna slit her throat. Whatever. He could suck her dick.

“Come on,” she said.

\---

**First Monday of August, 1:17 PM.**

Everything was spinning, spinning, spinning, and Evie could not get a grip. Everything was too bright, and she was dizzy, and she just felt completely fucking numb.

She squinted against the light, screaming at her limbs to _get it together and do what you’re supposed to_ and trying to yank herself up and re-orient herself.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and it was like a bolt of lightning had struck her. She flinched away, and finally, she could feel her arms! She was going to get out of this mess.

She heard a voice, and it became clearer by the second, as did the face she was staring into.

“Ssshh, listen, you’re safe, you’re home, you’re safe. Stop struggling.”

The voice was soothing, so for a moment, she did stop. She just looked, wide-eyed, at the shining woman in front of her.

\---

**First Monday of August, 6:39 PM.**

Just as Chad’s stomach grumbles for the billionth time, he hears the click of the entrance.

“Took you long enough,” he said, grinning, as Audrey swept past the curtains. That grin fell away as soon as Phoebus came in behind her.

“Uh,” he said, giving Audrey a look, “What’s he doing here?”

“I’m here to help,” Phoebus said. “I don’t know why the soldiers are after you,” he looked to Carlos, who looked like he was about to combust, “But I doubt that you deserve it.” He glanced around, his brows narrowing in concern. “Where are the other three?”

Carlos snarled at Audrey. “I’m going to-”

“In my defense,” Audrey interrupted. “The entrance to this place is in the arena, which is where he works, and he was there, and I tried not to lead him here at first but I’m pretty sure he knew about this place anyways and he asked if we needed help.”

“That is not a good defense,” Carlos said quietly.

“Whatever,” snapped Audrey.

“Well,” Chad said carefully, “If he’s here, we might as well let him help, right? We ain’t exactly doing a fantastic job of figuring this all out ourselves.”

“I absolutely agree,” said Lonnie, looking relieved.

“Look,” said Audrey. “You might not like it, but he’s our best shot. You said earlier that you wouldn’t be able to do this without us. Well, we’re saying that we can’t do this without him. So deal with it or find your soulmates on your own.”

Carlos just sat there and glared for a few moments before muttering, “Whatever.”

“Okay, great,” said Lonnie. She started to give Phoebus the long, rambley run-down of today’s events as well as all that they’d learned and planned (or tried to) this afternoon. She could really talk for days, if she wanted. She was real eloquent about it though; Chad figured that most people wouldn’t at all mind to listen to her talk for days.

Phoebus looked pretty stunned by the time she finished.

“We need a way to get to the isle,” Carlos said simply.

“No, you don’t,” Phoebus said sharply. “None of you should go there. Especially not right now. It’s not safe, and it’s not necessary.” He looked sharply at Carlos. “You must _not_ under any circumstances attempt this soul bond magic you’re considering. Do you understand me?”

Carlos stared him down for a few moments before gritting out, “Yes, sir.”

“Jay you can find easily enough,” he said. “I can get in touch with Jasmine and Aladdin. They’re good people, I promise you. Aladdin grew up the same as Jay, same as all of you isle kids. He won’t hold it against you.”

Carlos didn’t say anything.

“I can talk to the Fairy Godmother about Mal,” he added. “Evie, I would have no idea where we would start, but-”

“Don’t you _dare_ speak to the Fairy Godmother,” Carlos said, suddenly standing. He had this look in his eyes, and Chad felt in his bones that if Phoebus didn’t back off, Carlos would attack him.

“He won’t,” Chad interjected, smiling placatingly at Carlos. He shouldn’t’ve bothered; Carlos didn’t even look his way. “He won’t be involving any other adults in this. Right, Phoebus?”

Phoebus gave him a look that Chad knew should’ve scared him. But he didn’t feel particularly intimidated.

There was a long pause before Audrey said, her voice scary quiet, “You didn’t recruit Frollo’s soldiers when you went to save the Court of Miracles. This isn’t—at the very least, to them—this isn’t very different at all.”

Chad could see Phoebus go so still he wasn’t sure he was breathing. There was another long moment of silence, and Chad was getting absolutely sick of these moments.

“I didn’t… Think of it that way,” Phoebus says slowly, turning his head to look at Carlos again. “You really think of it that way? You really see Auradonians as the enemy?”

“They locked us up,” Carlos said, a dark anger in his voice that makes Chad shudder. “They _knew_ we were there. Us _children_ , in that _hell_ . And they left us there.” He glared at Phoebus, spitting at his feet. “How the actual fuck could you _not_ be the enemy?”

\---

**First Monday of August, 1:30 PM.**

Mal shrieked when the darkness came. She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t see Carlos- couldn’t find him at all, although she was stumbling around in the dark and reaching for him, shouting for him.

A slithering sound behind her caused her to stop her screaming and pause. She had to get it together. She didn’t know what had happened to Carlos, but she was going to find out. She just had to make sure she didn’t die first.

She listened carefully, slowly turning to face whatever slimy creature was creeping around.

“Show yourself,” she whispered, her hands clenched into fists.

A dim light appeared, snaking along a long, winding path. It was a beautiful silver, dotted with purple and blue speckles.

The streak of light came to an abrupt halt in front of her, branching out in two sweeping arcs before meeting itself again, making a strange heart shape.

More and more strange, beautiful lights suddenly revealed themselves around her, and she found herself staring down the largest, most terrifying fucking snake she’d ever seen.

\---

**First Monday of August, 6:57 PM.**

He couldn’t believe that everything had gone to shit so fucking fast. Things had been bad enough this morning, when Fairy Godmother was being a bitch and they were all scared of this place. And then Jay fucking vanished into thin air, probably to serve some master of the lamp somewhere. It made Carlos want to punch something and cry, just thinking about it. He just wanted Jay _back_ and _safe_ and _not_ imprisoned in some fucking genie spell.

And then, of course, Evie had disappeared, for gods knew what reason. Carlos didn’t have a single idea where she might’ve gone, or at least not an actionable idea. She could be anywhere. She could be _dead_. It made Carlos want to crack open his skull.

Then, just so the universe could prove to him that yes, things can _always_ get worse, Mal got kidnapped by some dumbass faery named _Orchid_ . What kind of name was that? And he had no idea what kind of faery it was or where Mal might be or whether she might be hurt. He was _terrified_ for her.

And before he could get a chance to make any real plans, all of these _stupid_ fucking Auradonians show up and try to run this show for him. Audrey wasn’t terrible—she’d brought food and shelter but not much else, which he had to admit he appreciated—but everyone else was a nightmare. Lonnie was the most sheltered, dim-witted bitch he’d ever met in his life. Chad was even worse. He wanted to rip them all to shreds for just sitting around and whining and moaning and complaining to _him_ that they wouldn’t be able to find _his_ friends without their fucking parents.

And then Phoebus showed up. And Carlos was going to kill him, he really was. It was bad enough that Lonnie suggested speaking to Mulan and Shang. Even the idea of Phoebus involving Jasmine and Aladdin didn’t raise his hackles quite so much as the suggestion that the Fairy Godmother could be _on their side_. What kind of idiocy…?

And he’d snapped at Phoebus, sure. But he’d fucking deserved it. Carlos didn’t believe for a second that the man actually wanted to help them. He’d never reached out to help Claudine. _Mal_ had been the one to step in and help her. Not this selfish half-wit bastard.

So here he was, still glaring at the man, Chad and Lonnie and Audrey all holding their breath.

“I’m sorry,” Phoebus said quietly. Carlos could see him deflating, see the defeated look on his face. Carlos wanted to feel triumphant, but he just felt fucking exhausted.

“Whatever,” he snapped. “Don’t say a _word_ to the Fairy Godmother and we don’t have a problem.”

“Okay,” he said, just as quietly.

“Do you know a way for us to get to the isle?” Audrey asked carefully, catching Phoebus’s eyes. When he opened his mouth, clearly about to protest, she said, “I understand all of your reservations. But I think it’s time that the rules change. I don’t think we can trust any—or at least many—of the Auradonian royals. Because Carlos is right. They never did anything for these kids.” She took a breath, looking pained. “Even you didn’t. And I just think… Maybe it’s time that we did do something. And maybe it’s time we stop listening to rules made by people like the Fairy Godmother and King Adam.” She paused again, looking at Chad, and Carlos, and Lonnie. Her voice was much quieter when she spoke again. “Maybe we should change the world for the better.”

Carlos knew there had been a reason why he’d liked Audrey.

“She’s right,” said Chad. “Our parents… They fucked up. And we need to fix it. And we need to find your soulmates.” He smiled at Carlos. Carlos didn’t smile back, but he gave him a little nod. Chad smiled wider at that.

Lonnie sighed wearily, and Carlos narrowed his eyes, ready to snap. But she just looked up at Phoebus and said, “Just help us figure out how to get on and off of the isle safely. If you’re going to help.”

Carlos could see the hesitation on the man’s face. But he could also see the guilt and resignation.

“Okay,” he said quietly.

Carlos grinned, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. “Spill.”

Phoebus looked at him, smiling even through all the world-weariness on his face. “From what I understand, the barrier can only be lowered using special magical devices issued by the Fairy Godmother. It is her magic, after all. I suspect that there are other methods, but I don’t know them. But I do know where you can get ahold of one of these devices.”

“You don’t mean steal it,” Lonnie said in shock.

Phoebus winked. “Borrow, more like.”

Lonnie scoffed, and Audrey snorted. “Where is it?” asked Carlos.

“Her office,” he said. “It’s locked up and warded by magic. You can’t get in that room without permission, no tricks. She keeps the device in her safe.” He grinned a little, as if laughing to himself. “Her password is her daughter’s birthday.”

“You’re giving us an impossible solution,” said Lonnie, looking angry.

“Or maybe not,” said Audrey. Carlos glared, demanding an explanation with his expression. “Jane is my roommate,” she said. “Fairy Godmother’s daughter? I think she might… Well, she might be willing to help.”

“ _Might_ ?” Carlos snapped. He was getting sick of having to rely on these people, and he was _this_ close to dumping them all and heading off on his own. He’d break into the Fairy Godmother’s office himself, or he’d find another way to the isle. Anything that didn’t require to trust so many untrustworthy people.

“She won’t rat to her mother even if she won’t help, I swear,” said Audrey. She looked sincere, but Carlos didn’t know how seriously she took her word, and he didn’t particularly want to find out.

But, if he was being realistic, he was out of options. As much as he wanted to strongarm the situation into going how he wanted, he knew that wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t be able to get ahold of the device, and gods knew whether he’d ever be able to find another way to the isle. Without the isle, he’d never get in touch with Freddie—a _real_ ally—and probably be at a loss to finding his friends.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But I _swear_ , if this goes to shit, I will fucking ruin you.”

“Whatever you say, pretty boy,” Audrey said, grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so what'd y'all think of this chapter?? was it too slow? what did you think about seeing from more perspectives, like Lonnie's? what do you think happened to the missing isle kids?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all i'm like literally so sorry this took me so long to write,,, it's been a long few weeks lol but here you go!!! i hope you like this chapter :)

**First Monday of August, 7:21 PM.**

“Hey, I’m back,” said Audrey, easing her door shut behind her. “And, uh, I need a favor.”

Audrey wasn’t nearly as confident about Jane helping as she’d pretended to Carlos and the rest of them. It would be difficult, but she would do whatever she had to. She couldn’t let this plan fall through. Carlos’s soulmates aside (who were still the most important part of this mission, mind you), she wanted to meet Freddie, desperately. Ever since learning about her soulmate, Audrey felt like she’d been obsessed with meeting her. How could she not be? Her world had just been turned upside down.

She hadn’t been crazy. She hadn’t been mixed up. She wasn’t doomed to a life with a soul mate she could never _really_ love.

She was just a fucking lesbian whose soulmate had a man’s name.

Jane raised her eyebrows, looking up from her laptop. “What kind of favor?”

Audrey smiled. “A screw-your-mom-over-without-her-knowing kind of favor?”

Jane’s expression stayed deadpan, but Audrey could see the corners of her lips twitching. Good. “I’m listening.”

“There’s this device we- I need. Your mom keeps it in her office, in a safe. Password’s your birthday. I’m sure that there’s plenty of other stuff in that safe that you might be interested in, too.”

Jane closed her laptop, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms. “What kind of device?”

Well, she couldn’t exactly tell Jane the whole plan before she’d even agreed to it, could she?

“Uh, small, white, about three by five inches, should have a weird radio thing poking out of it and also probably a couple of switches,” Audrey said, holding back a little grin.

Jane glared. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Well, you see, I can’t really tell you what it’s _for_ ,” Audrey started, but Jane cut her off.

“No explanation, no deal.” Jane opened her laptop again, her attention immediately switching over to whatever it was that she was working on.

“Fine, okay, look,” Audrey took a breath. “I want to go to the isle. Okay? The device will get me to the isle.”

“Why the _hell_ would you want to go there?” Jane asked, snapping her laptop shut and looking at Audrey with concern. In moments, that concern was replaced with suspicion. “This has something to do with the missing isle kids.”

“No!” Audrey winced a little at Jane’s incredulous look. “I mean… No. It’s just me. Look, okay, so you know my soulmark?”

Jane blinked, going a little wide-eyed. “You don’t mean…”

“Freddie apparently isn’t some peasant boy,” Audrey said quietly, holding out her wrist. “This mark is apparently an isle kid’s tag. Freddie Facilier.”

Jane gawked. “No way.”

“It’s true.” Shit, if Jane wouldn’t even believe that Freddie was an isle kid, she would never in a million years believe that Freddie was actually a _girl_. Audrey almost wanted to laugh at that.

“How did you find out?” Jane asked, leaning towards Audrey curiously.

“Carlos told me,” Audrey said. Jane’s interest immediately began to shut down, as she obviously didn’t trust Carlos to have told the truth. Audrey wasn’t exactly sure why she believed him, either, but… He didn’t have a reason to lie, did he? And it all matched up. It made sense. If Carlos was lying, then he would also be lying about Freddie being a girl, and… There would be no reason for him to do that unless he knew more about Audrey than anyone else in her life ever had. If it had been a lie, and she hadn’t been the type of girl she was, and he had just claimed that Freddie was a girl for some random reason, then she wouldn’t have believed him, and his lying would have had no purpose. And there was no way for him to know. No way.

He must have been telling the truth.

She wouldn’t ever admit it, but she knew that she had to believe it because, even if he had been lying, she wouldn’t be able to live with him being wrong.

“I know you don’t believe him,” Audrey said quietly. Before she could say more, Jane cut her off again.

“No shit,” she said, looking almost angry at Audrey’s gullibility. “Why would you believe him?”

“Because,” she said, and the look on her face must have been a sight, because Jane settled down, starting to look more concerned. “He told me something about Freddie that… No one could ever have predicted. Something that I know _must_ be true. It just makes sense. But there would have been no way for him to know how much sense it makes.” She hesitated, swallowing hard. “Does that make sense?”

Jane just stared for a moment, her brow furrowed. “No. What did he tell you about him?”

Audrey swallowed. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this. As soon as the words were out, Jane would know, and then gods knew who else might figure it out. She didn’t expect Jane to be… angry or anything. She didn’t expect anything terrible. People would just be surprised. And they would think of her differently. And her mother… Her parents would find out.

They wouldn’t be angry, either. Why would they be? She couldn’t control this. The mark on her arm said as much. They couldn’t be upset with her. They _shouldn’t_ be.

But she knew that, if she’d managed to trick her own self into fighting for the world her parents had dreamed up for her, then it must be a beautiful future for them to have to give up on.

And she would never be queen. Anywhere. Her family could lose their legacy, could lose everything that mattered. Their prestige, their future, their honor.

But she couldn’t not say it any longer. She couldn’t keep _pretending_ , because one day, it would drive her insane. She had lied to everyone, lied to _herself_ , for so long, and she just couldn’t do it anymore.

“Audrey?” Jane said quietly. Audrey hadn’t realized how long she had gone silent, and she didn’t realize her hands were shaking until Jane stepped forward to take them. “What’s wrong?”

Audrey took a breath. And another. And another, slow and deep.

Her voice was so quiet.

“She’s not a boy,” she whispered, looking down at the carpet. “Freddie, she isn’t.”

There was a long silence, one that felt like it was breaking Audrey to pieces, before Jane sighed, reaching forward and wrapping her arms around Audrey in a gentle hug. “Oh, Audrey,” she said softly.

Audrey hugged her back, as tightly as she could, her hands still trembling. This was it. This was the end.

But maybe, just maybe, she could make it into a beginning, too.

“I have to meet her,” Audrey whispered, her voice a little hoarse. Her throat hurt from the tears threatening to spill over. “I have to.”

“I know, I know,” Jane said quietly, holding her tightly. “I’ll help you. We’ll figure this out. And I’m coming with you.”

\---

**First Monday of August, 5:16 PM.**

Jay had been pacing back and forth in this tiny space for what felt like _eons_. His head was starting to ache, and his left wrist freaking hurt. It felt like he was being jabbed with little pins over and over again. It was really not helping with the existential fear.

He hadn’t really stopped hurting since he’d gotten out of the hospital, but he hadn’t really had a moment to pause and process anything until now. Now, all he _could_ do was process. Gods knew when he’d get out of this cage, and there was absolutely nothing interesting to do in here. So he just paced like some madman.

And all the pacing just made all the pain somehow more vivid. He wasn’t distracted or surrounded by people or beating the shit out of some Auradon kid. He was all alone with his thoughts and the nagging fucking stabbing pains that seemed to jump all over his body like he was a fucking playground.

It was not fun.

He groaned, putting a hand to his temple for a second before grabbing the nearest random object and launching it at the wall as hard as he could. He heard a satisfying shatter, but it didn’t stop the pressure behind his skull or the stabbing pains migrating into his fingers. It did, however, provide him with a nice ache in his shoulder.

He was going to go absolutely insane in here. He just wanted the pain to stop, and he just wanted to get back to his friends, and he just wanted something to _do_.

He sighed heavily, sitting down hard on a collection of fancy pillows. He stretched out his arm, trying to twist it or set it or something in a way that might make the pain stop. It didn’t, but everything else did.

Everything just disappeared for a moment, and all he could see was a little ray of light. He reached for it, and suddenly everything changed again. It was still dark, but he could see cracks of daylight making it into… whatever this place was. He squinted and coughed at the dust that was lingering in the air.

Before his eyes could _quite_ adjust to the light, he heard a man laughing. His eyes snapped towards the sound, and he tried to stumble into a fighting pose, but it was like his legs weren’t even there. He looked down, and-

They weren’t.

Fucking hell. What a day.

He looked back up at the laughing man, who he could see more clearly every second. The man was still grinning. He was dressed as if he were wealthy, but if he was hiding out in this absolute hovel…

Somebody was up to no good.

“Who are you?” he managed to say, crossing his arms and trying to look threatening. It probably wouldn’t do much (he knew this story, he knew that the man must have his lamp, he knew who had the real power in this situation), but he needed to feel like he could do _something_.

The man chuckled. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Jay didn’t answer. He just stared coldly at the man, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well,” said the man. “I suppose we can skip the formalities, if you really feel so inclined.”

Before he could say more, a woman rushed forward, throwing herself at the guy’s feet and tugging at his jacket-robe-thing (Jay almost felt embarrassed that he didn’t know what to call it, but the fear felt like the most pressing emotion for the time being). “Please,” she cried, her voice hoarse. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.”

He couldn’t see her face, but he felt fairly certain that this woman was the one he had seen earlier. The one who had found him.

The man kicked her away, ignoring her completely, his eyes locked on Jay’s in the most unnerving way possible. He rubbed at the lamp in his hands and said, “I wish for Aladdin to die.”

\---

**First Monday of August, 7:57 PM.**

“Where am I?” Evie muttered, lifting her shaking hands, blinking away the remainder of her fogginess. “Who are you?”

“A safe house,” said the woman. “I’m Demeter. You’re safe here.”

“A safe house where?” Evie said, her voice harsh. She slowly started to try to move the rest of her body, nearly sighing in relief when her muscles began to respond.

Demeter smiled. “I can’t give away the exact location, or I could be compromising the safety of its other members.”

“Okay,” said Evie, carefully lifting herself to a sitting position, her eyes sweeping the room. There was only one exit, past the shining woman—Demeter. The room was luxuriously furnished, more so than any place Evie had ever been. She saw more than one decorative sharp object that she could easily confiscate as a weapon. “Why did you bring me here and how do I leave?”

“You’re here for your own protection,” Demeter said, softening her voice. “We cannot let you leave.”

Evie settled her with a glare, her fingers itching for a dagger. “Yeah, because being locked up just makes me feel _so_ confident that you’re on my side.”

“I understand that you don’t trust us,” Demeter said, “But-”

“Us?” Evie said. “Who else is involved in this?”

Demeter winced a little. She probably hadn’t meant to give that away, which meant that Evie was dealing with an amateur deceiver. “My daughter, Persephone.”

Evie narrowed her eyes, muttering the name once and trying to figure out why it was so familiar. When it clicked, she laughed, shaking her head and standing up, ignoring her wobbly legs. “My father’s wife? The one he cheated on? Yeah, I’m sure that she has my best interests at heart.”

“You don’t understand,” Demeter said. “Persephone does not begrudge you or your father that. She knew of it before it took place.”

Evie scoffed, but she turned over the woman’s words in her head. “You’re saying that Hades deliberately _seduced_ my mother? For what purpose?”

“That is not my tale to tell.” When Evie opened her mouth to protest, Demeter continued, “Persephone will explain everything when she arrives, I’m certain. Until then, please, rest. We have food and drink. You are safe here.”

Evie was sick of this woman already. She didn’t know how she was going to get out of here, but she knew that this woman wasn’t going to be of any help. So she just stood there and said, “Is this room my prison, or am I at least allowed to see what’s outside that door?”

“You are free to explore the complex,” said Demeter. “But do not try to leave.”

“Or what?”

Demeter winced. “Just… Do not.” With that and a flash of light, the woman was gone.

Evie took a deep breath. She hated the feeling of being trapped, could feel the panic of the situation crawling up and down her arms like goosebumps. She hated this entire situation.

She needed to get back to her friends, but that probably wasn’t going to happen right now. She needed more information. And then she could figure out what was going on, where she would really be safe, and how to get to her friends.

She took another deep breath, steadying herself, and headed for the door.

\---

**First Monday of August, 8:46 PM.**

When Audrey finally came back, she didn’t just have the device. Actually, she didn’t exactly have the device at all. She had Jane with her, who was clutching the device in her left hand.

It had been a long couple of hours. Carlos had sent Chad off to get some of his (and Jay’s and Evie’s and Mal’s) stuff from their room. He’d made notes in the book, he’d adjusted his friends’ isle clothes to fit the others as best he could, he’d organized bags of decent food and weapons with the help of Lonnie and Phoebus. Now, with the device, they were ready to go. They just had to suit up and sneak out.

Jane snorted, pausing in the doorway and crossing her arms. “Audrey, you filthy liar.”

“I only fibbed a little,” Audrey said defensively. “Everything that I told you is true, except for the isle kids’ involvement. Carlos is the only one left right now; the rest have gone missing. And we’re going to try to find them.”

“On the isle?” Jane said, giving Carlos a withering look. He stared at her coolly, ready to wrestle the device away from her if need be.

“No,” Audrey said, wincing a little. “We are going to the isle to find Freddie. Carlos thinks that her magic will… Help us find his soulmates.”

There was a long moment of silence as everyone considered what might happen next. Lonnie and Chad exchanged a look, Audrey was staring stiffly at Jane, and Jane was still staring down Carlos, her expression unreadable. Then she finally looked over at Audrey, and sympathy found its way onto her face.

“Fine,” she said. “But I’m still going.”

“Not in those clothes you aren’t,” said Carlos. “We don’t have enough isle gear for five of us. Just me, Chad, Audrey, and Lonnie.”

“Maybe,” Lonnie started quietly, “Maybe I shouldn’t go. I can stay and cover for you all.”

Carlos narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, but before he could say anything, Jane said, “I have the device. And I know how to use it. You can either take me with you, or you can find another way over.”

He glared at her, but he knew he didn’t have many other options. If he didn’t cooperate with Jane, she could alert her mother, and then everything would go to shit. More than it had already, at least.

“Fine,” he gritted out.

\---

**First Monday of August, 1:31 PM.**

Mal hardly had time to think before the gigantic creature struck. She was vaguely aware of more and more lights filling the space, but she didn’t have time to focus on anything other than evading the giant, snake-like beast.

She ran and ran. She kept expecting to hit a wall, but she never did. The world seemed infinite here, and maybe it really was.

What if she couldn’t outrun this thing?

She had to get a weapon, had to find some way to destroy it. She had to know its weaknesses. Fuck, what even was this thing? She could hear it rushing and squelching behind her, could see the glow of its skin reflected along the stone path.

Another sound reached her ears as she ran, something ahead of her.

A crowd.

Slowly, she saw the huge wall closing in in front of her. She saw the people—not people, fae—swarming the top of the wall, cheering and shouting down at her.

An arena. Fucking hell.

She had to get out of here. Maybe she could scale the wall…

But could she do it faster than the creature? And would she be attacked by the crowds once she reached the top?

She had to get lost, make sure that the creature didn’t know where she was. Everyone here seemed illuminated, but she sure as hell didn’t glow. If she could find a shadowy corner, maybe she could hide long enough to escape.

She would have to distract it to do that, though. Make sure that it was disoriented long enough to not look for her.

She skidded to a halt just before she reached the wall, running along the side of it. Everything in her brain was screaming at her, because she was cornered and she knew it, but maybe… If it struck and she were able to dodge and it hit the wall, that could give her enough time to get away.

She took a few breaths, forcing herself to focus and keep down the swelling panic. She was good under pressure. She just had to keep her wits about her.

The monster screeched, lunging forward to take a bite out of her. She swallowed the urge to scream and leapt up against the wall, tugging herself up out of reach. She felt the crash below her and she dropped, landing on the beast’s head.

Maybe this was a better idea.

She slid forward, grabbing ahold of the creature’s head and holding on for dear life. Her fingers dug into the scaly skin, desperately seeking a solid grip. She wrapped her legs around the rounded neck as much as she could, forcing herself to keep her eyes open.

The terrible screech echoed throughout the room again as the monster reeled back from the wall, nearly shaking her off. She held on even more tightly, biting down on its head to see if she could break skin.

She did, and she immediately regretted it. The monster immediately began writhing, trying to force her off, and her mouth was now covered in a strange blue blood. She took a small breath, trying to keep down her stomach and rein in her terror, drawing more blood as her fingers dug into its skin.

She just had to stay alive. She just had to stay alive.

Just stay alive.

She was going to have to kill this thing.

She didn’t have the space to think as she just focused on keeping a hold, the creature swinging wildly around the arena. Her ears felt like they were going to explode, and she couldn’t tell up from down anymore.

Just hold on, just stay alive.

Surely there was a way to kill this thing.

If she had to, she’d eat its brains from the outside in.

Her stomach churned when she realized she might have to consider that as an actual option, and she had to take a few breaths to keep herself from throwing up.

Suddenly, the monster stilled, with her dangling off of its tilted-back head.

It was just a waiting game now. She couldn’t hang up here forever. She would fall, and when she did, she would die.

She had to _do_ something.

Maybe she could swing around onto its front? Could she reach its fangs without being impaled on them? Maybe they could even be used as weapons.

Whatever she was going to do, she had to do it _now_.

So she slowly, carefully tried to twist her way around its neck, ignoring the way her stomach dropped when she saw how far up she was.

“Hey, pal,” she said, her voice coming out much more broken and terrified than she would’ve liked. “Any chance you could just… Let me go? I really don’t wanna kill you.” Especially not at this height. “And I won’t, if you don’t hurt me.” She seriously doubted that this beast was listening to her, but the sound of her voice made her feel more grounded as she pulled herself all the way around, sitting on top of the creature’s neck and staring into its beady eyes.

She couldn’t help feeling that it was staring back. So she paused, just staring, not moving, afraid that it would move and swing her off and it would be over, she was going to die.

It did move, then. She wrapped her arms around it and held on for dear life, finally closing her eyes, trying to hold down a broken sob, because she wasn’t going to be able to beat this thing, and this was the end.

But it didn’t swing her off. It just tilted gently forward, slowly lowering itself to the ground.

No.

No _fucking_ way.

She opened her eyes, panting for breath, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating.

“You… Did you understand me?” she whispered.

There was a loud, painful screech as it dropped her to the ground.

“Oh,” she managed, sliding off of it and landing on her feet. She looked up at it again. Surely this was a trick. But even if it was, she didn’t have any other shot. “Are you really not going to hurt me?”

Her own voice was softer than she’d ever heard it.

The creature wailed, and its long, scaly body spun, wrapping around her like a wall. It wasn’t touching her, it was just… Guarding her?

God, she was going to die.

She couldn’t help the shaking in her hands, the faintness in her head that just made her want to drop to the floor and cry. She didn’t drop, though, and she didn’t cry, either. She just stood and stared, waiting for something to happen.

Or maybe… She didn’t have to wait.

She tentatively reached out to touch the creature, whispering, “Can you turn off those lights?”

Slowly, darkness blinked around her as the monster’s lights went out.

“Is there any way out of here?”

\---

**First Monday of August, 9:21 PM.**

The four of them had made it out of the school pretty easily with Phoebus’s and Lonnie’s help. Getting to the docks hadn’t been as smooth, but Chad had managed to talk them out of trouble when they ran into it. They’d managed to break into a warehouse where Phoebus had claimed the magical limousine was stored, and Jane had hot-wired the thing and called dibs on the driver’s seat.

Carlos had been afraid that the limousine might have been the wrong one and it wouldn’t carry them over the ocean, but it did just as it had when it had carried them over from the isle. He couldn’t let go of the tension in his shoulders, though, not even when they made it past the barrier and locked themselves in the isle.

He took the device from Jane as soon as they got there, for safekeeping. He didn’t trust her an inch, and he certainly didn’t believe that she was going to be in any way useful or capable.

“Look,” he said as he tucked the device away, “You need to keep your mouth _shut_. You need to stay close to me, stay loose, and stay ready for anything. Do you understand me?”

Jane looked like she wanted to punch his teeth out, the stupid bitch, but she nodded, at least. He looked over at Chad and Audrey (but mostly Chad), drawing confirmation from them before he swung a tarp over the car and headed off. “Let’s go.”

It wasn’t far to Freddie’s, but he didn’t want to head straight there. Jafar’s place was too close for comfort. Instead, he swept around the city, trying to keep to alleys and streets where he could keep an eye on the Auradonians and the shadows at the same time.

Unexpectedly, Chad stepped ahead of Audrey to talk to Carlos. He kept his voice low, thank god, but he was still an idiot.

“I was wondering…” Chad said quietly, his eyes darting fearfully around them. “If it would be too out of our way to go find Garrick?”

Carlos wanted to snap his neck. Was this boy _insane_? No, they could not take a fucking detour just to find the Wonderland bitch!

“Not a chance in hell,” he muttered, giving Chad a look. “Now shut up.”

“But-” Chad started.

“Shut it,” Carlos said, stiffening and glancing into a dark alley, hands going for knives.

“I just-”

Carlos raised one of his knives to Chad’s throat, finally getting him to can it. He stared into the shadows, then jerked his head to motion for the Auradonians to go ahead of him. Whoever this was, they needed to get past them, and Carlos was better off facing them than anyone else.

Audrey managed to get Jane and Chad in line, pushing them forward, and Carlos slowly followed, knives still out, looking ahead and behind as they left that particular alley behind them.

“Well, well, well,” someone purred, stepping into the dim light just beyond their group. Carlos started to take off in the other direction, but he stopped when he nearly collided with Harry Hook.

Harry grinned down at him, eyes blazing. He lifted his hook and trailed it along Carlos’s chin. He had to resist the urge to jerk away, instead grinning back at the pirate.

“What a surprise,” Harry said, leaning in towards Carlos and glancing up at the Auradonians behind him, who Carlos assumed were cornered by whoever was running with Harry these days. “Welcome back, pup. Mind introducing me to your… friends?”

“And here I thought you’d be so happy to see me,” Carlos said, tilting his head, knowing that Harry wouldn’t actually break skin. “Guess random strangers are more interesting than _me_ now?” He pouted mockingly until his grin broke through again.

“Awww, pup,” Harry cooed, “They’re only interesting _because_ they’re with you.” He leaned in, his hook scratching against Carlos’s neck, his breath against his ear. “And if you don’t explain yourself, I’ll cut you open right here and now.”

Carlos resisted the urge to shudder, instead sighing as dramatically as he could without pushing the sharp point of the hook further into his neck. “And here I thought we liked each other. Oh well.” God, he wished he could just look back, see the rest of them, see what was happening. “Blondie’s name is Chad. The tall, pretty girl is Audrey. The short, stupid one is Jane.”

Harry chuckled, slowly leaning back so he could look Carlos in the eyes. Carlos grit his teeth. “Pup, I think you know that’s not what I was asking. Good thing I believe in second chances.”

“Whatever, Hook,” he said, rolling his eyes. Harry had almost definitely figured it out for himself already, and if he hadn’t, he would, so he might as well spill. “They’re Auradonians. Blondie’s Prince Charming the second, Audrey’s the sleeping beauty’s kid, and Jane is Fairy Godmother’s.”

Harry whistled, gleefully running his hook up Carlos’s neck and catching it under his jaw. “And what are they all doing here?”

“Helping me, allegedly,” he said, “but so far they’ve mostly just gotten me into trouble.”

Harry tsk-ed, grinning down at Carlos. “I’m the best kind of trouble to get into, pup.”

Carlos looked him up and down very deliberately, and he couldn’t help the teasing grin on his face. “Trust me, I remember.”

Harry huffed indignantly, shoving him forcefully in the chest, but he didn’t pull his hand away and he didn’t stop grinning. “Cheeky. What a shame I’m going to have to take you to Uma.”

“Are you sure you _have_ to?” Carlos asked, letting his voice drop, lifting a hand to Harry’s collar and trailing a finger along his neck. “I’m sure I can provide… Plenty of incentive to do otherwise.”

“What the _fuck_ ,” he heard Jane shriek behind him. He had to resist the urge to turn around and punch her into the ground.

Harry just laughed, dropping his hook and swinging Carlos around to face the rest of them, swinging an arm around his shoulders, hook dangling over his chest. “Sorry, pup, but tonight’s just not a good time for me. Let’s go.”

Well, it had been worth a shot.

There were more pirates than Carlos expected to see, and they all corralled Carlos and the Auradonians towards Uma’s ship. Harry never let go of Carlos, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe Harry at least had enough affection for him to help him with Uma. He wasn’t sure, but, you know, maybe.

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what'd y'all think of this one?? let me know what y'all liked and what you didn't and what you think is gonna happen next!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all im really sorry it took me so long to update this!!! in my defense, it is longer than usual, and also there's a lot of complicated plot stuff going on that i had to outline. but i really hope you like it!!! let me know what y'all think in the comments :) <3

**First Tuesday of August, 11:32 AM.**

Evie hadn’t spent long exploring before she’d realized that everybody else had already gone to bed, and her odds of finding anything interesting were slim. Reluctantly, she’d forced herself to go back to her room and try to get some rest.

She’d tossed and turned for a few hours. When she’d finally seen the room begin to glow with the rising sun’s light, she’d set out to explore again.

She’d wandered in circles for hours. After all that time, she couldn’t help but notice how much the place felt like a trap. She’d never run into any exit or any door that wasn’t locked. She’d only run into one other person: a woman who had not been at all interested in talking to Evie. She hadn’t even found a window that she could so much as crack, and the only thing she could see through the window was sunshine and a gorge that dropped straight at the edge of the building. She couldn’t see the other side or the bottom of the pit.

Eventually she’d given up, returning to her room to sulk and wait and (hopefully) come up with some sort of plan to escape. She’d ended up sitting on a fancy padded chair and looking around the empty room.

Gods, she felt so alone here. She just wanted to go home. She just wanted to see Carlos’s smile, to listen to him ramble about whatever scientific breakthrough he’d figured out recently. She just wanted to be with Mal, to see the way she grinned when they got away with some sort of mischief. She just wanted to feel Jay’s arm around her shoulders, to scoff at his victory smirk when he lifted her necklace again. She just wanted _them_.

Maybe the whole soulmate thing wasn’t bullshit after all. She wanted to ridicule the idea, even in her head, but she couldn’t anymore.

She knew that it wasn’t bullshit, not really. She kind of always had. If she was really honest (which she never was), she knew. But she couldn’t _accept_ that. It just seemed… Too far. Like expecting the others to feel like she did, to feel that _deeply_ , would just break the bonds between them. Their relationships had been built on the pretense that they all only stuck together for protection, for survival, for… Whatever.

They’d all crossed that line, they’d all put their lives on the line for each other. They all knew—they _must_ have known—that there was something more than survival between them. The trouble came with admitting that.

Although, at this point, it wasn’t as if they had the opportunity to admit it anyways. She had no idea where Jay was, and anything could have happened to Carlos and Mal by now. They probably didn’t have any idea where she was, either. They had no way to get to each other, no way to even speak to one another.

It was that realization that sent her sharply to her feet and made her start pacing nervously. What if Jay was in danger? Anyone could have him right now. What would they make him do? What about Mal and Carlos? Were they safe? They were all alone in Auradon now, unless they’d left in search of her and Jay. Gods, they could be anywhere by now.

She could feel the panic bubbling up, could feel the pricking feeling behind her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry, she really wasn’t, but despite her best efforts she ended up sinking to the floor and sobbing, her face in her trembling hands, her chest heaving, her makeup streaking down her cheeks. Her helplessness jabbed at every part of her being. She didn’t know where they were, she couldn’t see them, she couldn’t do _anything_ for them. She was trapped and she was _worthless_.

That was when the door opened. Her head jerked up, and she immediately felt the shame coursing through her at her appearance. _No time_ , she thought urgently. There was no time for thoughts like that. She just had to get it together and make them let her go.

She didn’t recognize this new woman, but she was shining just as Demeter had been. Evie hesitantly got to her feet as the woman approached, something like pity on her face. She looked like spring itself—she was covered in flowers and lace and her hair was the color of trees, the kind she’d only ever seen in Auradon—but she wore a striking black crown on her head. It towered, making Evie feel like shrinking.

She didn’t shrink. She lifted her chin, swallowed down her anxieties, and faced the woman.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Her voice was too hoarse to be as sharp as she wanted it to be.

“I’m Persephone,” the woman said softly. Evie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she added, making Evie snort. “I swear it. I want to help you. I-”

“Then get me back to my friends,” Evie snapped, her voice clearer this time.

“I will,” Persephone said, and Evie raised her eyebrows, surprised. “But first, I need you to do something.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Evie purred, her expression falling back into a flat stare. “What do you want?”

“This isn’t for me,” Persephone said quietly, reaching out to touch Evie’s arm. Evie jerked away, glaring, and Persephone retracted her hand. “This is for your own sake.”

“What is it?” Evie snapped. She felt completely drained of energy, of will. Everything was a nightmare, and she’d only just pulled herself out of a complete nervous breakdown. It was all she could do to resist the urge to just crumple on the floor and shut out the world, much less try to keep up with this woman. This… god.

“I need you to go back in time,” Persephone said. “And observe. That is all that you need to do. That way, you will have a true record of history.”

“I’m sorry?” Evie was not here for this _bullshit_. Go back in time? Honestly?

“Hades was framed,” she said simply. “You need to see the actions for which he was wrongly blamed in order to free him from the isle.”

Why should she help Hades? He’d never done anything for her. She’d never even met him. And what good would it do for her to observe anything? It’s not like her word was irrefutable. She was an Isle kid and a notorious deceiver.

None of this was going to work. She couldn’t do this on her own.

“I just want to go back to my soulmates,” she said. She meant for her voice to sound harsh and angry, but it broke instead. A small sob escaped, followed by a weak laugh as she tilted her head back slightly and blinked, trying to keep tears from falling down her cheeks. Not that it mattered.

Persephone shocked her by stepping forward and putting her arms around her. Evie wanted to push away, wanted to tell her to fuck off, but she felt too numb and tired to try.

She grit her teeth when Persephone pulled away, keeping her at arm’s length. When they locked eyes, Evie looked down at her shoes, fighting the sudden and overwhelming anger that urged her to fight her way out of this.

“I know,” Persephone whispered. “I understand. I’ve felt what you’re feeling. It’s everything I’ve felt for a quarter of a century. I want to go back to my soulmate, too. But I can tell you this: all four of you are facing the biggest threats you’ve ever faced. You can’t fight their battles for them. But, if you want to keep them safe, the best that you can do is fight for yourself. If you can’t provide testimony to Olympus, then Hera will come after you. And when she can’t find you, she will go after your friends. Listen to me,” Persephone said, lifting a hand to Evie’s chin and tilting her head up so that she would look her in the eyes. “I know that you can do this. I know how much pain you are in. But I also know that you are stronger than you know. I know that you have what it takes to save yourself and your soulmates.” There was a long moment of silence before Persephone said quietly, lifting her eyebrows slightly, “Alright?”

Evie took a long breath, trying to still all of the swirling emotions in her head. She still felt the anxiety boiling in the pit of her stomach, screaming at her to get to her soulmates _yesterday_ . She still felt the dead tiredness in the back of her head, begging her to just let go and lie down and not get back up. She still felt the anger stabbing through her veins, urging her to beat the absolute _shit_ out of this woman who kidnapped her.

But she also knew that none of those emotions were going to help her do whatever she needed to do. She needed to figure out if she could trust this woman, she needed to figure out if she could get out on her own, she needed to figure out if Hera was actually a threat, she needed to figure out if this whole time travel thing was legit. And she couldn’t do that if she was just going in circles in her mind, letting all the voices in her head shove her in different directions.

She could do this. She could do this.

“Okay,” she said quietly.

Persephone smiled, leaning in to kiss her forehead, but Evie wasn’t finished. “Firstly, I want to know exactly why I should believe a damn word you say. You _kidnapped_ me.”

Persephone pulled away, and Evie stared expectantly. “We did what we thought was best to bring you to safety. If we had approached you before bringing you here, then Hera would have been tipped off and she would have come straight for you. I can’t force you to trust me, but I am offering you a way to know everything for yourself. If you travel back in time, if you witness the things that happened, then _you_ will know the complete truth of the situation for yourself, firsthand.”

Evie raised an eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips. “And this time travel shit. You’re saying that you _actually_ have a way to send someone back in time without fucking up history and you just want _me_ to go back? Why not yourself?”

Persephone pulled a locket from her pocket, handing it to Evie. Evie gently cradled it in her palm; it looked like it was worth a fortune. Jay would have loved it.

“This device cost me dearly,” Persephone said, her voice so soft that Evie could have sworn she was being threatened. “I made a deal with Kronos himself in order to obtain it. The thing about time is that it is unchangeable by any mortal or god; I am sending you back because I have already met you, thousands of years ago, just before the events for which Hades was framed. I didn’t witness them, but I know that you must have. I know that you will go back in time; the only question is when. Please do not test me.”

It sounded absolutely insane, but in a weird way, it made sense. The main reason time travel could never happen is because going back in time would change the course of history, but what if history had already been changed?

Evie knew that if she didn’t get ahold of herself, she’d start to geek out, so she cleared her throat and re-calibrated her suspicious glare. “I need you to prove to me that this locket does what you say that it does and it can’t hurt me.”

“I swear on the river Styx that the locket in your palm will take you back in time and back to the future and that it cannot, itself, cause you any harm,” Persephone said gravely. Evie felt a spark of magic, but she wasn’t sure if that particular vow was actually trustworthy.

“The river Styx…?”

“If a god breaks an oath on the river Styx, they will be cast from Olympus and become mortal,” Persephone said quietly. Evie knew that she shouldn’t just take the woman at her word, but somehow, she could just sense that the woman—god—wasn’t lying.

“How do I use it?” Evie asked, holding up the locket.

She could’ve sworn she saw Persephone smile for a flicker of a moment. “When you open it, it will take you back to the time you need to be. Close it when you get there. After you’ve seen everything you need to see, open it a second time, and it will bring you right back here. Hardly a moment will pass for me while you’re gone. As soon as you’re back, we can prepare for you to give your testimony, and as soon as that’s done, I will take you to your friends myself. Is that alright?”

“Yes,” Evie said, standing up straighter and smiling widely. “It’s perfectly alright.”

“Excellent,” Persephone said, smiling back. “Open it, then, if you’re ready.”

Evie didn’t waste another moment. She clicked open the locket, and everything was swept away.

\---

**First Monday of August, 5:19 PM.**

“Um,” said Jay. He felt a strange, tingling sensation on his arms (maybe the manacles?). “I could totally be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that _killing_ is one of those things that I just can’t do.” At least, that’s what his dad had said. Then again, had Jafar really been a genie long enough to know for sure?

“I didn’t tell you to kill anyone,” the man said. His grin was probably one of the most unnerving expressions Jay had ever seen, which was really saying something, considering that he’d met Cruella de fucking Vil. “I told you that I want him to die. It doesn’t need to be directly your fault.”

Jay frowned. He wasn’t sure if that was like, an actual valid loophole, or just some bullshit. “I dunno…”

The man shrugged. “Well, we’re going to know. Either you’re going to do it or you’re not.”

Jay swallowed. He didn’t exactly feel… magically compelled, or whatever, to do anything in particular. Like, he’d imagined that there would be some sort of genie magic, forcing him to comply to whatever wish he’d been given, or else…

He didn’t feel anything, really, except the pains in his back and shoulder and arm and-

Oh. Oh? Oh shit. Maybe that was it.

Well, okay.

“Okay,” he said, “I’m not really sure what I’m doing, but like. First of all, where even _is_ Aladdin?”

“You’re a fucking genie,” the man snapped. Just from the look in his eyes. Jay could tell that the guy was unhinged. “Figure it out yourself.”

“Okay, okay, right,” Jay said, raising his hands in the “surrender” gesture and grinning amicably. He had to get that lamp back. After the man ran out of wishes, he’d be helpless, and Jay could take it.

So—how exactly was he supposed to use this magic?

He could feel a buzzing sensation under his skin, and the answer just popped into his head. He could see a man, richly dressed, dancing with a woman… Aladdin and Jasmine. He could see people around them, also dancing. It was some sort of party. As his vision zoomed out, he could see the castle. Gods, it was stunning, all gold and sparkling and shit. He saw the entrances, saw the intimidating-looking guards at all of those entrances.

“Whoa,” he whispered.

He could hear the man muttering angrily, and there was a shock of pain all the way up his left arm. Well, shit.

“Okay, well, he’s at a party right now, I think,” he said. “Wanna crash it?”

The man grinned, and yet again, Jay had to resist a shudder. The dude was creepy.

“Okay, crazy genie magic, let’s go to that party, I guess,” Jay muttered. He felt this weird voice-sensation-thing in the back of his head that felt like something was laughing at him, but whatever.

Within seconds, Jay and Creepy Man had been magically swept all the way to the party. It didn’t seem like anyone had really noticed their appearance, and they were dressed just fancy enough to blend in with everyone, and-

“Thank _fuck_ , I’ve got my legs back,” Jay mumbled under his breath, grinning to himself. 

“Shut up,” snapped Creepy Man, looking annoyed.

“Sure thing,” said Jay, miming that he was sewing his lips shut.

He tried to focus on everything around him and what he was supposed to be doing, but he couldn’t help noticing that he was wearing the finest clothes he’d ever even touched. He felt like a fucking _god_ . And gods _knew_ he must look handsome as hell in this. If he were lucky, maybe he’d even get to take an outfit like this with him after this whole genie mess was over. He would _love_ to see Mal’s and Carlos’s and Evie’s reactions to it.

Plus, it was so fucking soft! He’d expected it to be stiff and uncomfortable, but he felt like he was wearing water itself, it was so smooth and silky. He couldn’t help but run it between his thumb and forefinger over and over again.

“Pay fucking attention,” Creepy Man muttered, elbowing Jay. Jay grinned sheepishly and started looking for Aladdin again. He felt that weird shivery feeling again, and his attention was drawn immediately to a man making a beeline for him through the crowds, a woman trailing after him.

Well, it looked like they hadn’t blended in quite as well as Jay had imagined.

He didn’t bother to try to avoid the sultan or sultana. When they finally reached him, he grinned and took a little, dramatic bow.

“Razoul,” Aladdin said, staring pointedly at Creepy Man.

“So that’s your name,” Jay said. “Good to know.”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow, looking Jay up and down suspiciously. “Who are you?”

Jay bowed again, grinning. “I’m Jay.”

\---

**First Monday of August, 1:37 PM.**

The giant creature surrounding Mal let out a sudden, horrific wail. Mal flinched, wondering if that was a yes or a no. Its body began to light up erratically, some parts still dark while others flamed blue.

Then she saw the blood.

There was blue blood pooling underneath the creature, spreading towards Mal’s feet. The creature began to writhe, trying to escape whatever was attacking it from the outside (now that she focused, Mal could hear the shouts beyond the creature) without abandoning Mal.

“No, no, no no no,” she breathed. “Oh god.” She covered her mouth with a hand, trying not to retch. She couldn’t afford to be weak, not right now. Not right now. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

The creature let out a soft sound, like a whimper, before slumping to the ground. She was exposed to the crowds, and it was dead.

She could hear the roar of the fae—disappointed in the ending of this battle, she guessed—but she couldn’t focus on them. She had to keep it together, had to focus on the people now approaching, had to be ready for anything.

The first fae to approach her dropped her weapons to the ground, raising her hands in a gesture of peace. Mal didn’t buy it, so she stepped away, keeping a close eye on her. She wouldn’t be able to run, she knew that. But she didn’t want to just let them kill her, either.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” said the fae. “I just need you to come with me.”

Another fae shouldered past the first one, sword out. “Game time’s over, gladiator. Come with us. _Now_.”

Mal looked back and forth between the two, feeling frozen. She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t run away, not yet, not until she knew more about her situation. So she hesitantly took a step forward, nearly tripping over her own feet. She edged towards the first fae, the one who seemed friendlier.

The fae smiled in relief, reaching out to take Mal’s hand and lead her out of the arena. Mal followed stiffly as they made their way through a large, thick door at the arena’s wall. She tried to keep track of all the turns that they made through this underground fucking _maze_ , but she lost track sooner than she would have liked to admit.

“Where are we going?” she asked quietly. The other fae, the one with the sword, was following close behind, but she hoped that the friendly one would be open to answering her questions, at least.

“Your cell,” said the other fae. “I’m Oak, by the way.”

“Cell,” Mal said flatly. Oak winced. She seemed entirely too sympathetic to be genuine.

“Yeah,” was all that Oak said, though.

When they finally reached the heavy wooden door that must lead to Mal’s “cell” (she shuddered at the name), Oak waved a small, thin wand and muttered an incantation under her breath that Mal hadn’t heard before. She waved Mal inside and, surprisingly, followed her in. Mal could hear the click of the lock behind them. She crossed her arms and leaned against a wall, glaring.

“So what do you want,” she asked, pausing for effect, “Oak?”

Oak swallowed hard, looking nervous. “Well, I- It’s… Complicated. What I came in here to say is… Well.” She took a moment, waving her little wand again and muttering another spell under her breath. Mal would have to learn that magic somehow. “I’m on your side, majesty. I-”

“Majesty?” Mal blurted, snorting. “Tell me you didn’t just call _me_ that.”

“Well, um,” Oak started, “I did. I know you aren’t… I mean… Well. Gods, I knew I shouldn’t have been the one to talk to you, I’m terrible at- well, at talking. What I’m trying to say is, well, we’re on your side. That is, I am, and a bunch of others, my friends and allies.”

“My… side,” Mal said, narrowing her eyes.

“Yes, against your mother,” said Oak. Mal’s expression must have become even more confused, because Oak added, “For her throne?”

“Her throne?” Mal asked. She’d known that there were faeries still loyal to her mother, but she didn’t realize that it was an actual whole _thing_.

Oak paused, tilting her head and studying Mal. “You don’t know anything at all, do you?”

Mal scoffed. “I know plenty."

“Not about your mother, or us,” said Oak.

Mal didn’t respond to that.

“Well,” Oak said, grimacing. “I don’t really know how to… Explain things. Like I said, I’m not very good at- I’m not a very good speaker. But… Well. Your mother is the queen, obviously. Has been for a long time. Longer than I’ve been alive, actually. You know, we’re around the same age! But- but that isn’t really the point. The point is, a lot of us don’t really _want_ her to be queen anymore. I mean, obviously. She isn’t around. I’ve never even met her. And how can you swear fealty to a queen you’ve never met? So there’s lots of us, tons, really, who’ve never _really_ been able to commit to her, and we’ve just been waiting, because we want a new queen. And we think you’d be a good one. Especially after that… Well! It wasn’t even a battle! The wyrm _listened_ to you! It _protected_ you! If there’s ever a sign of a true fae queen, that’s it, I think. That’s why they put you away so early. They, the older ones, loyal to Maleficent—they can’t have us young ones thinking about deposing the queen, can they? But we are. Thinking about it. And we’re thinking about _you_.” Oak paused, frowning. “Did I make any sense? I don’t know, maybe I got carried away. Do you understand what’s happening now?”

“Oh,” Mal said weakly, “Um. Sort of?”

Oak grinned. “Good! That’s way better than I thought I would’ve done. Maybe I’m not half bad at- half bad of a speaker after all.”

“So…” Mal tried to wrap her mind around it, running a hand through her hair. “What happens next?”

“Oh, uh-oh, I thought I explained that bit,” Oak said sheepishly. “Well, you know, we want you to be queen. So you’ve gotta kill her. I mean, declare a duel and everything, and bring her here, and kill her, and then you’ll be queen.”

“What if I don’t want to be a queen?” Mal asked quietly. God, there were so many problems with that plan. She couldn’t take her mother off the isle, much less kill her! But she needed allies if she was going to make it out of here. If she was going to make it back to Carlos, to find Evie and Jay… Fuck.

Oak tilted her head. “Why would you not want to be queen?”

“I don’t know,” Mal said, frustrating oozing into her voice. She wrung her hands. “It just sounds like a lot, you know.”

“Oookay,” said Oak. “So…” The faerie deflated a little bit. “Are you saying you _won’t_ challenge her?”

“What happens if I don’t?” Mal asked carefully.

“You fight in the arena until you die,” Oak said flatly. Mal winced.

“Well… Okay. How do I challenge her to a duel, and get her off the isle, and how the _hell_ am I supposed to kill her?”

Oak grinned.

\---

**First Monday of August, 9:27 PM.**

Audrey had to admit, despite all the shit going down, she was _extremely_ grateful that at least she didn’t have to do any of this in heels. She felt a little bad for Jane, who was stuck with Evie’s old shoes, but hey, she’d gotten first dibs.

It felt like they’d been walking for hours before they finally reached Uma’s… lair, or whatever. Audrey had expected the isle to be really small for some reason, so the distance had surprised her at first.

She hadn’t exactly been surprised when they’d come to the very edge of the island and been forced to board a bunch of rickety boats. She wasn’t sure if Harry’s hook was real or not, but she’d suspected that he was likely the progeny of the more famous Hook. She was right.

She had been surprised, though, when Uma had come up on deck. She’d never met the girl before, but she knew she must’ve been the leader as soon as she showed up. Everyone else on board seemed to shift, their stances more deferential, their eyes lowered, their shoulders tense. Carlos was stiff with fear.

“Who- what the hell,” Uma said, her voice full of laughter as she surveyed the group, arms crossed, hip cocked. “Carlos? Back so soon?”

Carlos shrugged, grinning at her despite the obvious tension in his posture.

Uma leaned forward, tilting her head and smiling condescendingly. “Care to explain, ya little runt?”

Carlos hesitated, like he was thinking over everything he could possibly say, before shrugging again. Everyone waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. Uma laughed, and the sound sent chills up and down Audrey’s back.

“You little bitch,” Uma said, her voice low and threatening. “Who are the others?”

“Auradonians,” Harry said with a flourish of his hook. “Kids of Sleeping Beauty, Fairy Godmother, and Cinderella.”

“Cute,” Uma said. “What the hell are they doing here?”

“We’re here for a Freddie?” Jane’s voice was ridiculously high-pitched and scared, and Audrey couldn’t help but wish she would just keep her mouth shut. She didn’t know how to deal with these kinds of people, but surely Carlos did, and if he wasn’t talking, then they shouldn’t either. Audrey shot daggers at her with her eyes, but Jane continued, “Freddie Facilier? She’s Audrey’s soulmate.”

Uma laughed again, her steely eyes focusing on Jane. Jane visibly shrunk away. “Bitch, please. Don’t you _dare_ fuck with me. You want to walk out of here alive? You tell me why you’re here, and why the rest of Carlos’s pack isn’t, and you tell me the fucking _truth_. You hear me?”

“Which one’s Audrey?” Harry muttered quietly.

“I’m not lying!” Jane said, her expression looking defiant. It was easy to tell that she was thinking of herself as the brave hero in some sort of fairytale, facing off against the big baddie. It was almost pitiful how clueless she was. Jane swung an arm out to gesture at Audrey as she said, “You can look at her soulmark!”

Uma’s eyebrows lifted to her forehead, her grin pasted in place. “The fuck is a soulmark?”

“It’s like, your soulmate’s name, and-” Jane started to ramble, and Audrey stopped listening as Harry pulled himself away from Carlos to look Audrey up and down.

“Like a tattoo?” he asked, interrupting Jane as he grabbed Audrey’s wrist and looked down at her soulmark quizzically. Audrey had to resist the urge to shy away.

“Yes,” Jane said. “Like a tattoo. Carlos said that he recognized the mark by the name, and that it was Freddie’s symbol or something.”

“Carlos?” Uma questioned, crossing her arms and stepping towards him. Carlos kept his chin high and stared her down. “Explain to me what the fuck the short bitch is talking about.”

“It’s an Auradon thing, a magic thing,” he said, his voice just rushed enough to sound scared. “They were all born with names and symbols on their arms. Allegedly, those names are the names of their soulmates, and the symbols represent the soul of their soulmates, or something like that.” When Uma looked pointedly at his arms, he added, “Jay and Evie and Mal and I all got them as soon as we left the barrier.”

“It is Freddie’s tag,” Harry said, holding Audrey’s wrist up for Uma to see.

“So you’re telling me,” Uma said slowly, “That you came back to this shit island so that some random bitch could meet her ‘soulmate’?” Uma did air quotes for the last word, staring at Carlos.

“Sure,” Carlos said.

“How did you get over here?” Uma asked next.

Carlos didn’t answer. Uma backhanded him across the face and hissed, “I asked how you got over here.”

“Hey!” Jane cried. “You can’t just hit him like that!”

And just like that, Uma’s eyes caught back on Jane. She knew who the weak link of their group was. Audrey was really beginning to regret bringing her along. Even if she’d swiped the device off of her and Jane had ended up tattling to the Fairy Godmother, Audrey couldn’t imagine that Godmother could be as much of an immediate and serious danger as this crew.

“Jane,” Audrey said quietly. “If you don’t _shut up_ , I will shut you up myself.”

“Ooohh, feisty,” Harry cooed. “Can we keep her?”

“Shut it, Hook,” Uma said, grinning and winking. “Jane, _darling_ , would you like to tell us how you got through the barrier?”

Jane looked conflicted for a moment, and she didn’t speak. Uma grabbed Carlos’s wrist. “Start talking before I start breaking fingers.”

“No! Okay, okay,” Jane said. “There’s this device that we took from my mother. You can open and close the barrier with it. Carlos has it.”

Wasn’t that perfect? Now Ms. Pirate Bitch and her gang were going to take off with the device and leave them all stranded on the isle. And Audrey seriously did not have faith in their ability to survive in this place. Christ, if Maleficent herself found out that Audrey was here… She was dead. Over. That was it. They could _not_ stay here.

Carlos tried to wrestle away when they started searching him (turning up a surprising number of hidden knives while they were at it), but it was hardly a minute before they finally pulled the device out of a hidden pocket. He shot a withering look at Jane, hissing under his breath, “You’re fucking dead, you know that? We’re all fucking dead.”

“Not yet,” Uma said cheerfully, tossing the device in one hand and grinning. “Gil, you go make sure it’s real and isn’t just gonna blow up in our faces.”

“On it,” said a boy—Gil—as he took the device out of her hand and skipped off.

“And it’s to the brig with you lot,” Uma added, turning her grin on the Auradonians. “Harry?”

Harry grabbed Audrey’s arm rather more forcefully than was necessary, chirping, “My pleasure, Uma.”

\---

**Second Thursday of March, 632 BC, 2:15 PM.**

As soon as she began to take in her new surroundings, Evie snapped the locket shut and tucked it into her pocket. Wherever she was, it was dark; it seemed underground, almost, although Evie couldn’t quite discern where the roof might be. There was a river behind her, sweeping around as far as she could see, but she couldn’t quite see to the other side. The place seemed to glow, pockets of bioluminescent algae and fire throughout the whole cavern. She could see, not far ahead of her, an enormous palace towering over her. It looked like some dark, glowing marble, and most of its walls were open to the skies. Glowing plants dangled from the pillars and roofs adorning the building, and the gate seemed like it was made of glass.

It was swung wide open.

She might as well let herself in, then. She started walking, hesitating before breaching the gate. Gods knew what other traps might lay behind an open door.

She knew she’d been right to pause when she saw it. The fucking _dog_.

The thing was gigantic; it must have been nearly as tall as she was. It was pitch black and intimidating as fuck, its eyes gleaming in the darkness, almost humanlike. Its paws were more cat than dog, with huge claws peeking out of them. Snakes were wriggling around its neck, eyes trained on Evie. And it had _three motherfucking heads_.

“Good doggy,” she said quietly, more as a joke to herself than anything. She was already shaking. Gods forbid that _Carlos_ ever met this fucking creature.

“Who’s there?” The voice is so loud it almost feels like it’s coming from the walls of the place. It reminds Evie of the device that Auradon used to project announcements all over the school.

“Evie,” she squeaked out, unable to look away from the dog. “Evie Grimmhilde. I mean, I’m Hades’ daughter.” She hesitated, realizing that maybe that wasn’t a good thing to give away. What if some old lover of Hades’s was around? A vengeful old Persephone? “I mean, um, I’m from… Persephone sent me here?”

The dog’s ears flicked back, and it slowly stepped aside as two stepped forward.

Persephone. And Hades.

“Excuse me?” she said. Persephone didn’t look very different from when Evie had last met her, but she was more… Everything. More vibrant, more intense, more intimidating.

Hades looked… Not like Evie had expected him to, exactly. She’d seen him once or twice on the isle, but there, he was just like everyone else. Ragged, angry, beaten down. Here, he was poised, and regal, and generally fucking intimidating.

It took Evie a few moments to finally get herself together and speak. She cleared her throat and said, “Uh, hey. I’m Evie. But yeah, I just said that. Anyways, I mean.” She paused again, taking another breath and standing taller. She had to do this right, or else. “Persephone. I met a version of you from the future, from where I’m from. You gave me this-” Evie pulled the locket from her pocket, “-and sent me back here. I’m supposed to… Well, I’m basically supposed to hang out until shit goes down. Something’s going to happen, and whatever it is, it ends with Hades locked up on the Isle with no magic. Future Persephone told me that Hades was framed, and once I see what happens, I’ll be able to prove that to the Olympians.”

Hades and Persephone shared a dark look, and Evie couldn’t help but shudder. If she’d fucked this up somehow, they could kill her. They were _gods_.

The helplessness of her situation struck her again, and she had to fight back tears.

“Well,” Persephone said slowly. “I don’t know precisely what you might have been sent back for, but it’s likely to do with Psyche. She just left here. I… May have given her a box of poison intended for Aphrodite.”

“Okay,” Evie said. “I don’t have any idea who those people are, so could you maybe fill me in and then point me in the right direction?”

“Psyche is the lover of Eros,” Hades said, and his voice was way softer than Evie would have imagined. “Eros is the god of love and the son of Aphrodite, the god of love and beauty. Psyche betrayed Eros by revealing his true form. Since then, Aphrodite has kept Eros locked in her home while she forces Psyche to undergo tests to prove she’s worthy of Eros. As her final test, she was sent to retrieve some of Persephone’s beauty. Persephone instead put the essence of Hypnos, god of sleep, into the box.” When he finished, Hades gave his wife a look that Evie could have sworn was amused.

“Wow,” was all Evie said for a long moment. “Well. I guess I’m gonna go after Psyche, see what happens.”

“I’ll take you to her,” Hades said, stepping forward and holding out a hand. “I might as well be present if I’m going to be convicted.”

“Maybe you won’t be,” Evie said as she reluctantly took his hand. She didn’t really think it worked that way, though.

Hades didn’t respond, just _wooshed_ them up and away. All this teleporting business was starting to make Evie feel sick.

“There she is,” Hades said, nodding. Evie looked, but she didn’t see anyone, until she noticed the girl comatose on the ground.

“Psyche?” she asked quietly. She could see Hades nodding in her periphery.

She hesitated, then hurried towards Psyche. Sure enough, she saw an empty box splayed open on the ground beside the girl. After one stunned moment, Evie took the girl’s wrist to feel for her heartbeat.

She really hadn’t expected the girl to be this damned _attractive_. She wasn’t even a god, but damn. No one could blame her for being a little blown away.

“At least she’s only sleeping,” Evie said. She couldn’t help but wonder if this “essence of Hypnos” was the same as her mother’s Sleeping Death. It seemed eerily similar.

“Do you think-” she started, but she was interrupted when a huge angel crash landed not five feet from her, falling over himself to reach Psyche’s side. When he fell still over her, cradling her face with his hands and sobbing, Evie realized who he was.

“Eros,” she said quietly. Not an angel. The god of love. If he weren’t a crying mess, he would have looked intimidating. He had a quiver of arrows slung over one shoulder, and a silver bow was lying on the ground by his side.

The fact that he was a crying mess didn’t change that he was one of the most attractive men Evie had ever seen in her life. He and Psyche must have been truly meant for each other.

The god looked like he had to fight to lift his eyes from his lover to Evie’s face. “Who are you?” he demanded, his voice hoarse.

“Evie,” she said softly.

“What do you want?” he snapped, and Evie could have sworn that she could see his fingers itching for his bow.

“I just want to help.” She surprised even herself by saying it; she was supposed to just be here to see what she had to see and leave. But she couldn’t help but look at these two and wonder: if it were her sobbing over Jay or Mal or Carlos, wouldn’t she want someone to try to help her?

“I- I don’t know if I’m right or not,” she said, her voice a little shaky. “But this thing that she was cursed- or poisoned with, I think I know what it is. My mother cursed someone with it once. The Sleeping Death. It’s healed with love’s first kiss. So maybe you should…”

She didn’t have to finish before Eros leaned down to kiss Psyche. It wasn’t terribly romantic, if Evie was being honest, but whatever.

Eros pulled away after a long, uncomfortable moment, and they all waited for Psyche to shift, to take a breath, to flutter her eyes open.

Nothing happened. Her breath remained steady, and she remained dead asleep.

“Love’s first kiss,” Eros said, so quietly that Evie almost didn’t hear him. “Love’s _first_ kiss.”

“Oh,” she said quietly. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe-”

Before Evie could finish, before she could even blink, Eros was standing, an arrow nicked and ready to fly. It hit her once again how _powerless_ she was against these gods before he shot her, the arrow piercing her shoulder.

It didn’t even hurt. For a few moments, it felt like everything had gone white. She felt numb. She blinked, and she blinked, and she blinked, and _slowly_ everything came back into focus.

Eros yanked the arrow out of her shoulder, and she braced herself for the pain, for the blood, but none came. Everything felt like it was happening at a hundred miles an hour.

She reached for her shoulder with her opposite hand, and she found no wound. Only a hole in the shoulder of her shirt. But she _knew_ something had happened. She could feel it in her gut, in her bones, in that giddy feeling smothering her heart.

Then Eros shot Psyche, too.

Evie felt like she was seeing everything in slow motion. She must have been drugged.

Psyche’s arms were bare, but as the arrow hit Psyche’s bicep, ink bloomed. Eros pulled the arrow gently out of Psyche’s arm, and there was no wound. No blood. But Evie could see the tattoo that stilled on Psyche’s arm in elegant cursive.

 _Evie_.

What the _fuck_.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up, it was Hades. He looked more terrifying than any other being she’d ever encountered in her life.

She looked over again, and Eros was smiling. Her ears felt like they’d been full of water, but as Eros spoke, that feeling evaporated and her hearing came to her.

“Love’s _first_ kiss,” he said, sounding like a child who had just solved a riddle. “Go ahead, Evie.”

“What,” she said. She expected her voice to sound as hoarse and hazy as the rest of her felt, but it was perfectly clear. After a moment, it dawned on her what had just happened.

“No,” she whispered. “No, no no no no.” Finally, her voice caught, making it sound as panicked as she felt. “What have you done to me?”

“You said you wanted to help me,” Eros said simply.

Everything felt like it was crashing in on her. She didn’t have the emotional capacity to process everything, and it was making her lose her shit. Her brain had hit the panic button, and she didn’t have a shot at sense anymore.

“Breathe,” she heard Hades say quietly. His voice was heavy with anger. “Slowly.”

She did. And she thought of Jay, trapped somewhere and playing the puppet to whatever monster might have found his lamp. She thought of Mal, who she knew must be losing her mind with worry over her and Jay. She thought of Carlos, pacing and fidgeting and reading and trying to quell his anxiety long enough to find a solution, like he always did.

And she thought of this girl, lying right in front of her, comatose, and completely helpless. This girl who she didn’t even know, who was suddenly her fucking _soulmate_.

She had to get herself to breathe again.

She had to do whatever it took to get to Jay and Mal and Carlos. _No matter what_.

So she slowed her breathing, slowly leaned over Psyche, and kissed her.

She immediately felt Psyche stirring beneath her, so she pulled away. She felt the numbness sweeping over her, saving her from the overwhelming emotions tugging at her from all sides, and for once she was grateful for it. She didn’t have time for tears right now, much less another breakdown.

As soon as Psyche opened her eyes and began to sit, Eros lunged for her, embracing her and kissing her. Evie felt like she was watching a movie, she was so detached from everything that was happening.

She just had to breathe. And she just had to get back to her soulmates.

As soon as the two pulled apart, Eros looked at her, grinning. “Thank you, Evie. I owe you. No, here- A debt repaid.” He tossed his bow at her, and, somehow, she caught it. Immediately, Eros turned back to Psyche. “Let’s go, love.”

Psyche was staring at Evie, but even as she began to ask “Who-”, Eros pulled her into his arms and took off.

Evie could feel herself deflating. How had things gone to hell so fast?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so what did y'all think?? i know this was a more evie-heavy chapter, but there'll be more of the others in upcoming chapters. what was the biggest surprise?? what are your biggest questions?? your theories?? let me know :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn it's been a hot minute since i updated. sorry for the wait! lol this chapter isn't quite where i want it to be yet but, if i took the time to perfect everything i've ever written until i was actually happy with it, nothing would ever be published, so here we are. i really hope y'all like this chapter :) let me know what you think of it!!!

**First Monday of August, 5:26 PM.**

Jasmine’s brows furrowed as she repeated, “Jay. Just Jay?”

It wasn’t like he could give away that he was Jafar’s son, right? That wouldn’t do him any good. So he just shrugged and grinned and said, “Yep,” popping the ‘p’ at the end.

“Right,” said Aladdin. “What the hell is going on here?”

Jasmine and Aladdin were both looking at the two of them (but mostly Razoul) with a mixture of suspicion and anger. There was definitely some history here. Jay could see the guards in the crowd, all hyper-focused on what was going down with the sultana and her husband and… Razoul. What the hell?

He nearly shuddered at the shivery feeling that possessed him again. The sensation came with the revelation that Razoul had apparently tried to kill Aladdin before—it was an old, old grudge, one that began back when Aladdin was a street rat like Jay who Razoul had been hunting.

“I was given an invitation to this party,” Razoul said airily. “This boy is my servant.”

“Am I now,” Jay said dryly, just as Aladdin demanded, “Who invited you?”

Jay and Aladdin locked eyes for just a moment, but Jay had to look away. He couldn’t quite repress the shudder, either. Was he really going to have to kill this guy? He really hoped that he wouldn’t be able to, that this wasn’t going to work.

“You’re not his servant?” Aladdin questioned. Jay still wasn’t looking, because he was too much of a coward, but he could feel Aladdin’s eyes on him.

“I mean,” Jay started. Razoul shot him an icy glare and said, “He’s an insolent fool. He’s my servant and he knows it, he just likes to make trouble. He will _do as I say_.”

“Hey,” Jay said, the anger rising in his throat. “I don’t have to do _everything_ you say.”

Damn, this must be a weird conversation to listen to without context. Jay could practically feel the wary, dead confusion coming off of Jasmine and Aladdin in waves.

“Know your place,” Razoul hissed, grabbing Jay’s arm.

Jay looked up at Razoul coldly. He wanted him to fulfill his fucking wish, then? Whatever. Fuck this guy and fuck this shit and fuck it all, Jay just wanted this over with.

In moments, he’d pulled a dagger from midair and started swinging it towards Aladdin’s chest. He could see Aladdin start to react, but it was as if time had temporarily slowed down, and Jay knew that no human could stop him from doing whatever he tried to do.

For just a split second (one that lasted what felt like minutes for Jay), Jay and Aladdin locked eyes. Jay could see the fear there, the shock, the anger. He could _feel_ how fast Aladdin’s heart had started beating, how Jasmine’s had stopped. Everything was washing over him in waves, drowning him in just the sensation of the moment until he lost his breath and the dagger hit home.

He gasped, long and deep, as he fell back into reality. His heart was pounding and his fist was shaking and his knees were weak. He had to take a moment just to look, to process what had happened, where all the cards had fallen.

His knife was frozen against Aladdin’s chest. It had grazed the fine fabric covering his chest, but it hadn’t even drawn blood. Even as he gently tried to push it forward, he felt deep in his bones that he wouldn’t be able to, no matter how hard he tried.

“Fuck,” he rasped. He choked out a short laugh as someone grabbed at him, pulling him away from Aladdin and yanking his arms behind his back. He grinned madly at Razoul. “I told you it wouldn’t fucking work.”

“You fool!” Razoul cried, his hand already reaching in his pocket for the lamp.

“You’re the fool!” Jay yelled, the grin pasted on his face. “It was a stupid fucking wish anyways!”

Someone lunged at Razoul, hopefully wise to the fact that he had a fucking genie lamp on him. Razoul jumped away, and, before anyone could do anything, he grazed his thumb along the neck of the lamp and shouted, “I wish to have Aladdin’s and Jasmine’s and their daughter’s lives completely under my control!”

Jay knew immediately that the first wish had not been in any way valid, because he felt it this time. It was like someone had hooked him by the ribs and was pulling him forward, forcing his magic out of him in whatever way was necessary to appease the wish.

He didn’t even realize that he’d made all the guards drop (he could feel their heartbeats stop, and he just hoped hoped hoped that they weren’t stopped forever) until he was already reaching for Aladdin and Jasmine and Razoul, spiriting them away. He didn’t realize where he’d gone until he saw the girl, who’d probably just hit her teens, jumping up from the couch she’d been lying on.

They were alone.

“Now,” Razoul said, stepping towards the young girl—Nazira, Jasmine and Aladdin’s daughter, his magic told him with a shudder—while spinning a knife in his hands. Jay could feel Aladdin trying to lunge forward, to do anything to keep Razoul from threatening his daughter, but Jay could also feel the sizzling under his skin that was rooting Aladdin to the ground.

“You’ll pay for this,” Jasmine seethed.

“Funny,” Razoul said quietly, lifting the dagger to just under the girl’s chin. Jay felt his stomach turn upside down as she tried to jerk away. He was the reason she couldn’t escape. _He_ was keeping them all pinned there. “If I recall, that’s just what I said to you not so long ago. Isn’t it?”

He was going to be responsible for a little girl’s death.

He’d killed before. Only once, and only maybe. He hadn’t exactly gone back to check; for all he knew, maybe the man had lived somehow.

He didn’t know if he had really needed to or not, and that had been the worst part. He hadn’t seen any other option when the knife had been in his hand and the man had been in front of him. Looking back, he saw dozens of other opportunities.

But his and Evie’s lives had been in danger. They both might have _died_.

It had been unthinkable.

They’d hardly just met. Evie’d lifted a brooch off of him, and as soon as he’d realized it, he’d caught up with her to take it back. He’d been planning to beat it out of her (she was such a pretty, little thing), but as soon as she smiled at him like she did, all lit up, he hadn’t been able to. He’d just offered to walk her home and lifted it right back off of her when he’d kissed her by the door.

He’d never expected to see her again, but he did, just the next day. She’d stormed right up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him. He’d known she was lifting something else the moment that her arm curled up against his chest, but he hadn’t minded as much as he should’ve. That had been their game for the rest of the day, tossing the little gem back and forth. He hadn’t really been sure if the theft had been an excuse for the messing around or if it had been the other way around.

He’d been taking her back to her place again (old, isolated, way more fancy than any place on the isle deserved to be) when they’d been jumped. Before Jay had a moment to get his shit together, there was a knife against Evie’s neck. The man at the end of the knife had looked deranged and hungry, and Jay had known that he should have just ran. Every instinct told him to save his ass and leave her to whatever hell awaited behind that man’s sick smile.

“Hey now,” he’d said casually, crossing his arms and leaning against a wall, “I don’t think that belongs to you.”

“I’ll slit her throat, I swear it,” the man had rasped.

“So why haven’t you already?” he had asked quietly, taking a step towards them, waiting for the right moment to make sure that the knife exchanged necks.

Everything after that went a little fuzzy. Jay was almost glad that he couldn’t quite remember it. Evie had pulled a nearly laughably tiny dagger out of her bodice and stabbed the man where it would hurt. Before the man even had time to react, Jay had lunged, grabbing the man’s wrist and dragging the dagger away from Evie’s neck. The man had begun to jerk his knife wildly, leaving a nasty scar on Jay’s arm. Before he could do worse, Jay’d slid a dagger between his ribs, grabbed Evie, and ran off.

The whole thing still felt like an open wound. He knew that the man had probably deserved it; he knew what the man had been after, the kinds of things that he had probably done. But he couldn’t quiet the stupid, insistent fucking voice in the back of his head that said maybe he hadn’t needed to go on the attack. Maybe he should have just ran. Maybe he was like that man; he just killed because he could.

But he had needed to. Or at least, when it’d been happening, he’d felt like he’d needed to. He had to cling to that. He couldn’t be the same as them.

But here he was, playing the weapon pointed at three completely innocent people. At a _child_.

Slowly, he realized that Razoul had been talking, and he’d been too stuck in his own head to hear it. He felt like he was underwater, Razoul’s voice was so muddled.

“And I haven’t even gotten to the best part,” Razoul said, his voice thick with glee. He grinned at Jay as he pulled out the lamp yet again.

\---

**First Monday of August, 3:47 PM.**

Mal had probably been pacing for about an hour now. She kept arguing herself in circles, not sure what she should do. What she _could_ do. It would be suicide to try to battle her mother, especially in her mother’s home territory, especially if magic was involved. But what other choice did she have? She could wait it out here, battle when she was forced to, try to learn the place well enough to plan an escape, but that would take ages. She needed to get back to Carlos and find Jay and Evie, and she needed to do that _now_.

She growled under her breath, her fist to her lips as she kicked at the wall. She wished she could at least communicate with them somehow, just know if they were alright. For all she knew, they could all be dead by now.

But she couldn’t think like that. She had to just _do something._ She couldn’t keep stalling herself with indecision. What was her best shot at escaping and finding her soulmates without getting killed in the process?

She could theoretically do that on her own, but her odds would increase dramatically with allies: especially when it came to the _finding_ part. If she had an entire kingdom of faeries behind her, she could find (and rescue) Jay and Evie easily. It would be a lot harder on her own, on the run.

But how could she _possibly_ kill Maleficent? She might stand a chance if magic were taken out of the equation. After all, Maleficent might have been top dog on the isle, but she hadn’t done her own dirty work in ages. She was old. Mal was young and had spent her entire life fighting.

Mal hadn’t expected it, but there was another thing: she didn’t know if she could really kill her own mother. She’d thought about it before, whenever things had gotten so bad that she’d felt like she couldn’t keep on living so long as her mother breathed. But Jay and Evie and Carlos had always backed her off of that precipice.

And they weren’t here anymore.

That was really all there was to it, wasn’t there? They were the only people in the world that she really cared about. Her mother had never done anything for her. So if her mother stood between her and her soulmates, then her mother would have to go. She could do it. She _would_.

She would do anything.

She clenched her fists and stood up a little straighter. She had to at least try. If she didn’t, she would die here anyway. She might last a while, but death would always be hanging over her head, an inevitability. She would die before she ever got to see Evie’s or Carlos’s or Jay’s face again.

She couldn’t do that.

She couldn’t.

It was a good thing she’d made up her mind (because she couldn’t change her mind again now, she wouldn’t let herself, she _had_ to do this, she had to commit) because it was only moments later that the door swung open. Oak blinked at her, eyebrows raised in a silent question.

Mal looked at her, her voice flat as she asked, “Who do I have to talk to?”

Oak grinned, and it dawned on Mal suddenly how feral that smile was. “I’ll take you to them. Come on.”

Mal took a deep breath, steadied herself, and followed Oak out into the hall. Her footsteps felt too loud; Oak, who was practically skipping in front of her, was dead silent. In comparison, Mal felt clunky and awkward and large. She was just starting to realize how much more wild and graceful and powerful all of these faeries were. Oak would probably have a better shot at killing Maleficent than Mal did.

But she couldn’t back out now. She couldn’t risk Jay, couldn’t risk Evie, couldn’t risk Carlos. She saw their faces flashing in repeat in her brain: Jay’s flirty smirk, Evie’s angelic smile, Carlos’s mischievous grin. She had to protect them. Even if it killed her.

It felt like it should have taken longer than it did for them to reach where they were going. Mal felt like her shoes were weighted with lead.

There was a huge throne at the very center of the long hall that they’d just entered. It was tall and imposing and covered in thorns: just her mother’s style. It was vacant, but there was another throne—smaller, less intimidating, less regal—to its left. In that one sat an old faery, one probably older than even Maleficent. Mal could see the age in her face.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the woman. She was stiff and tall, like her spine was tied to a board. “Why is _she_ here?”

“I brought her at her request, chancellor,” Oak said, her voice filling the room. “She has a statement to make.” Oak nodded to Mal encouragingly, gesturing for her to step forward.

Mal swallowed hard. She felt like she couldn’t move. She just wanted to take it back, to go back, to find some other way out of there.

But she didn’t allow herself that. After a moment of hesitation, she forced herself to take a few steps towards the woman on the throne: the chancellor. She considered bowing but decided against it.

“I want to challenge my mother for her throne,” Mal said. She sounded a bit uncertain, even to herself, but her voice was strong.

There was a moment of silence; then the chancellor cackled. “Very well. To do so, you must bring your mother here.”

“No,” Mal said. She saw the shock cross everyone’s faces, but she didn’t give them time to say anything before finishing. “I want to challenge her where she is now, on even ground. I want to duel her on the Isle.”

The chancellor scoffed. “We can’t exactly allow you to just walk free, can we?”

“We wouldn’t be,” Oak said. “I mean, well…” Oak started to stutter, her face going red. Mal was about to step in to defend her own case when someone else stepped forward.

He was a faery, of course, and if Mal had to guess, she’d say he was around her age: one of the rebellious young ones that Oak had told her about. He bowed to the chancellor before speaking.

“I believe her terms are reasonable, chancellor,” he said. “It’s not as if she would be free on the Isle regardless. We might send a group to accompany her if you want to ensure her compliance. Many a duel has taken place outside of our realm; it is only fitting that this one might as well.”

“It’s cheating!” called someone from the crowd. “To attack Maleficent without her magic!”

“In case you have forgotten,” the fae man said icily, “Maleficent would not be in that magicless pit if it weren’t for her own failures. Taking Mal to Maleficent is as fair as fair can be.”

“We hear you, Lily,” the chancellor said. Her voice was full of anger, and her eyes were narrowed, but the speaker didn’t even flinch. He simply bowed and backed away into the crowds, sparing a moment to look at Mal and wink mischievously.

Shit, this whole thing was still too much, and she was still terrified, but Mal had to admit that it felt good as hell to know that there were people in her corner again.

There was a long, long silence. It probably lasted a whole ass five minutes. It lasted so long that Mal started to shift nervously from foot to foot, hoping she didn’t look as anxious as she felt.

Finally, the chancellor spoke. “We grant your request, daughter of Maleficent. We will depart for the Isle at first light tomorrow. Messengers will be sent ahead tonight to inform your mother of your challenge.”

Mal smiled nervously. “Okay. Uh, thanks, chancellor.”

\---

**First Monday of August, 10:13 PM.**

They’d been in the brig for fucking _ages_. Carlos knew that it hadn’t actually been that long, but it felt like days. He felt restless, like there were bugs crawling under his skin. He didn’t like being trapped. He especially didn’t like being trapped in a musty old ship that was constantly swaying back and forth.

He could tell that none of the others were thrilled about their accommodations, either. Jane looked like she was going to be sick. She deserved it. Charming was staring at a wall, his eyes weirdly vacant. Something was clearly fucking with him. Audrey was tapping her fingers against the floor and chewing her lower lip to pieces. Her constant movement just made Carlos more anxious.

When he heard heavy footsteps thudding down into their holding cell, he was nearly relieved. He had to remind himself that he was in mortal peril, and whoever was coming wasn’t exactly going to just let them all go.

The moment he saw Harry, he knew something was fucking wrong. The pirate who normally had a psychotic grin sewn into his cheeks was nearly scowling, his expression heavy with solemnity and his face nearly pale with worry. He locked eyes with Carlos for a moment before breaking away, swallowing hard.

“The fuck is wrong, hook,” Carlos said, his voice deepening with an angry sort of fear. He could feel every cell in his body screaming for a fight.

“Just come on,” Harry muttered, tossing a key at Carlos. “Unlock yourselves. Uma wants to see you.”

Carlos grit his teeth, unlocking his chains before tossing the key to Audrey, who did the same for herself. As Audrey started to help Jane, Carlos turned away and marched towards Hook.

Hook didn’t back away, and Carlos took full advantage, getting right up in his face.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he said quietly. His fists were clenched so tightly he might break his own fingers, and he knew Harry would be able to feel the anger radiating off of him like heat. When Carlos got anxious, he got aggressive. And right now, he felt like a cornered tiger.

“Nothing,” Harry breathed, looking past Carlos like he wasn’t even there. “Uma’s just pissed you lied.”

Carlos scowled. He opened his mouth to argue, but before he could get a word out, Harry grabbed him by the collar to pull him up onto the main deck. He could hear the others clambering along behind him.

There wasn’t exactly a hope of escape, Carlos couldn’t help but notice as they all made it up. It seemed like Uma had rounded up nearly every single member of her gang to surround them. If it was meant to be intimidating, it was fucking working. Carlos was ready to jump out of his own skin.

“You sneaky little runt,” Uma hissed, stepping towards him and getting right up in his face, grabbing him by the neck like she was going to strangle him. “You just gave us a piece of garbage. And you are _going_ to tell me the truth this time, or I swear to _god_ I will rip your ribs out one by one while you’re screaming.”

“We didn’t lie,” Audrey said. She spoke quickly but quietly, like she was afraid to spook anyone. Carlos wished she hadn’t spoken. She sounded so panicked, it wasn’t exactly helping their cause. Then again, they were surrounded and they knew it; posturing was probably useless by now.

Uma growled, her grip tightening on Carlos’s neck. She wasn’t choking him out, thank fuck, but he could feel the pressure, and he had to resist the urge to let his fingers come up to scrape at her hand. “Then fucking explain yourselves.”

“Jane didn’t lie,” Audrey said, her voice getting a little louder and a little clearer. “That device is what we used to get here. Maybe we fucked up and it doesn’t work from inside, I don’t know. But that’s what we used.”

“Yeah, sure, princess,” Uma said, shoving Carlos away and advancing towards Audrey. Carlos twisted to watch. Audrey looked like she wanted to cower away, but she didn’t. She just swallowed hard as Uma said, “So tell me. Why are you really fucking here? Because I don’t buy that soulmate bullshit. You wouldn’t risk your life- you wouldn’t come to Maleficent’s _home turf_ just to bang some girl you’ve never met just because you’ve got a fancy tat with her name on it. Tell me the _fucking_ truth.”

She couldn’t, she couldn’t, she couldn’t. If she told Uma that they were here to try to save Carlos’s soulmates, if they gave away that Carlos was alone and Jay and Mal and Evie were all missing or in mortal danger… Fuck knew what Uma would do. But they couldn’t give that away.

He could see the look in Audrey’s eyes, and he knew she was going to tell the truth before she opened her mouth.

“Don’t,” he croaked.

Uma whirled on him, but she didn’t come towards him again. She made some gesture that Carlos couldn’t make out, and someone stepped forward, slinging an arm around Carlos’s neck.

Harry. Carlos could feel the cold metal of his hook tickling his throat.

“Tell me,” Uma seethed, turning back on Audrey, “Or Harry here will slit his throat.”

Audrey hesitated. Carlos shook his head, feeling dizzy. There was a long, long pause.

“Don’t make me kill him, pet,” Harry said. Carlos was shocked to hear the tremor in his voice.

“You don’t have to,” Audrey said quietly. Her eyes were locked on Harry’s, just beyond Carlos. He felt like everything was spinning around him. Harry wouldn’t do it, but would he? Audrey couldn’t say anything, but could she? Consequences and fears and screaming spun around and around in Carlos’s head, and he couldn’t even think.

“Just tell her,” Harry said, his voice harsh and cold again.

Audrey looked at Carlos again. He just looked back. He didn’t know what the right decision was. He didn’t know if Harry would kill him. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want them to know about his soulmates, to exploit that weakness. He didn’t want… He just didn’t want this to be happening.

“It’s about Carlos’s soulmates,” Audrey said quietly, looking back at Uma. “Jay vanished into smoke; he’s a genie, apparently, and someone is probably out there right now playing him like a puppet. Evie disappeared, too, but we haven’t found a single clue as to where she might be. She just disappeared into thin air with a scream. Then Mal was kidnapped by some evil fae librarian after the faery gave Carlos a book. She said that the book would help him recover his soulmates, but… Well, the book is a book of magic. Soulmate magic. Carlos wanted help from someone who actually knew what they were doing. And that was… Freddie.”

There was a moment of silence. Then Uma laughed.

“I’d call bullshit,” she said, “but your story’s too ridiculous to be fake. God, of course. Of fucking _course_ it’s about those three. Carlos’s little pack.” Uma turned to grin at Carlos, shaking her head. “You’re all so damned protective of each other.” Her humor faded within a moment, replaced with fury. “But I still want the truth as to how you all got here. And how you intend to leave.”

“You already know the truth about that,” Carlos said, leveling an angry stare at Uma. He could feel his hands trembling. “The device was how we got here, and it’s how we planned to leave.”

As Uma shook her head, a terrible realization finally dawned on Carlos. If the device truly hadn’t worked, then…

They couldn’t leave, could they?

\---

**Second Thursday of March, 632 BC, 4:56 PM.**

Evie stayed there, lying on the ground, for gods knew who long, just trying to process the upside-down-ness of everything in her fucking life. Hades stayed with her, probably because he knew this shit still wasn’t over, but he didn’t say anything. She just stayed crumpled, her hands in her lap, her head bowed over the ground. She didn’t try to stop herself from crying this time. What was the point?

She was stuck in a different timeline, gods knew where, gods knew when. It wasn’t even guaranteed that she would make it back. It had just been a wild guess on Persephone’s part that Evie would witness whatever it was that Hades got accused of.

She could die. Jay could be dead. So could Carlos and Mal, for all she fucking knew.

And now Psyche was her fucking _soulmate_? She didn’t even know her!

She wanted to curl up into a ball and die. She wanted to go home. She wanted this nightmare to end.

She flinched when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. She wasn’t surprised when it was accompanied by a voice, dark and heavy.

“I’m sorry,” Hades said. “I didn’t realize that things would go this way.”

“You’re _sorry_ ,” Evie said, her voice coming out harsher than she meant it. She wiped the tears away and twisted to look up at him, glaring. He pulled his hand away as she said, “Sorry for what? This wasn’t your fault. Not that you really _care_ , do you? I’m here to save your ass and that’s it. You don’t speak to me my whole damn life, but here you are, all _sorry_ when you know that I have a job to do for you but all I want to do is leave you to your own fucking mess, because I could do that, you know, just fucking leave you right now. I could go home.”

“I know,” Hades said, his voice quiet.

“No, you don’t!” Evie shouted. “I fucking hate you! You know that? I was _alone_ , my entire life, stuck with my psychotic fucking mother, and where were you? Just skulking around the isle, looking like a fucking lunatic, pretending your daughter didn’t even exist!”

“If it’s any consolation,” Hades said, using a voice that was probably meant to make Evie calmer and not more angry, “I haven’t done those things yet, and I can’t imagine why I ever will.”

“Well, you will,” Evie said, her voice full of bitterness.

“I’m sorry,” Hades said quietly.

“I don’t care,” Evie bit out. She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair. She started to push herself to her feet, feeling the familiar numbness creeping into her limbs. She was all cried out. “What now?”

“I don’t-” Hades stopped, taking a step back like he’d been hit in the chest. He muttered something under his breath that Evie couldn’t quiet catch, his eyes wide, then he grabbed her arm and whisked her away.

All this jerking through time and space was giving Evie a damned headache. She didn’t even have the chance to say anything before Hades hissed, “Stay right here,” and vanished.

She blinked, readjusting to her surroundings. The sun was low, and she was in some sort of wooded area on the crest of a hill. Below her, she could see a group of people she didn’t recognize—and Hades.

Hades was standing by some hunk of a dude, arms crossed. Across from the two of them was a glowing woman: a goddess. At her feet was a young woman. She looked almost fragile, she was so skinny, and she had a long rope of red hair tied behind her head. She had manacles locked around her wrists and, even from this distance, Evie could make out the purple beneath her eyes.

She knew she was supposed to stay put, but she felt certain that this was what she was supposed to see, and she couldn’t tell what was going on from here, so she started to carefully pick her way down the hill, keeping to the most shadowed places and keeping an eye on the scene below her.

“She won’t come to any harm,” Evie heard. She assumed it was the goddess. “Just give up your strength for this one day.”

There was another voice, but it was too low for Evie to hear. She slid a little further down the hill, trying to keep herself hidden while also trying to see them more clearly.

“I swear on the river Styx that, should our deal be broken and Megara be harmed, your strength will return to you. I honor my deals,” said the woman. Evie shuddered as she crouched to watch the group. She was close enough now to make them out much more clearly, and she heard the brawny dude when he spoke again.

“Fine,” he bit out. Evie couldn’t see his face, but she could tell he was angry. Some sort of chalice appeared out of thin air, and the man reached for it. Hades looked like he wanted to intervene, but he didn’t. Megara just watched, her eyes wide with terror. Her eyes kept flicking back and forth between Hades and the man with the chalice.

There was a long moment where everyone just stared at each other before the man tipped the chalice back and drank its contents. A rush of wind nearly knocked Evie back on her ass, and there was this bright flash of light where he was standing that nearly blinded her.

Squinting, she stared at the four of them. She expected the man to look different (specifically, less muscular), but he looked just the same. His shoulders were sagged with defeat, though, and Evie got the sense that he really had lost whatever strength he’d had.

The goddess stepped forward, grinning. A sword crystallized in her hand, and Evie suddenly understood with startling clarity what was happening.

The goddess would kill this man, and Hades would have to pay for it.

Evie knew that she couldn’t change the past; some part of her brain still understood that fact. But there was just this pounding sensation of _what if?_ following her heartbeat, and she wanted to hope, just for a minute, that things could be different, that she had power over what was happening. That idea was so powerful that it forced her into action.

She started reaching for a weapon, anything, anything she could use to violate the deal, to end the goddess’s plan, and her fingers closed around the bow that Eros had given her. She hadn’t noticed that it had disappeared, but she was shocked when it appeared out of nowhere.

“Shit,” she whispered, her fingers trembling. She nearly dropped the bow.

But she didn’t have time to hesitate. The goddess was already approaching the man, so Evie scrambled for something to shoot. A quiver slung itself around her shoulders, so she grabbed an arrow, nocked it, and took aim.

Somehow, Megara saw Evie, and they locked eyes just before Evie let the arrow fly.

\---

**First Monday of August, 5:37 PM.**

“You see,” Razoul said, dropping the knife and strolling over to Aladdin, who fell still as a statue, “I’ve only used one wish. I have you alone. I can do whatever I want.” He laughed maniacally, and Jay couldn’t help but shudder. He had to resist the urge to back away when Razoul’s eyes fell on him.

Razoul dropped his voice to a whisper as he lifted his knife to Aladdin’s face, carefully drawing blood across Aladdin’s cheek. “And I’ve got a secret.” He giggled as he trailed the knife down to Aladdin’s throat. “And, oh, it’s such a good secret! I wonder if I should tell you.”

“Why not?” Jasmine said, locking eyes with Jay. “We have all the time in the world.”

She was stalling, he realized. She wanted him to do something, to figure something out, to fool Razoul and save them all somehow. Jay felt his heart sink. He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t take their lives out of his hands. He was powerless.

He wanted to fucking stab this Razoul guy, to come up with some plan, to save the day, to do _something_ , anything, but he was just completely fucking useless. As usual.

“You’re right,” Razoul said, looking over at Jasmine and grinning as his knife came to rest by Aladdin’s heart. Jay could see Aladdin’s jaw tighten, could see the desperate tears gathering in his eyes, could see the fists clenched at his sides, and all he wanted to do was scream. “We do, don’t we?” Razoul laughed, lowering the knife and ambling over to Jasmine. “You see, it’s so crazy. You wouldn’t even believe me if I told you!” He lifted a hand to Jasmine’s face, and she jerked away. No magic would have to stop her from that. Razoul just chuckled and shook his head. “I wished your memories away! I’d have to wish them back. But that would be such a waste, wouldn’t it be?” Razoul looked back at Jay, and Jay flinched.

Razoul had made wishes before? Had he met Jay’s father?

Before the magic answer even popped into his head, Razoul said, “Yes, boy, I wished on your father. And you know the best part!” Razoul laughed to himself. “He asked me to! I wished him his freedom, but you know what I got in exchange?” Razoul grinned at Jay, his eyes glittering with satisfaction. “He told me how to wish you into his stead! He didn’t want to be a genie anymore. Of course not! He knew it was just a fucking prison. But he wanted that prison for you! And I didn’t mind, not really, having to wait to use you. If I’d done all my wishes back then, well… I wouldn’t have gotten to make all of them!” He laughed again. “Plus, there wouldn’t be nearly as many people here to kill.” The look in his eyes was so intense, so angry, so hateful that Jay took a step back.

Jay felt dizzy. He felt sort of like he was falling, like in those dreams, just falling and falling and falling but never hitting the end.

Then Razoul laughed again, and pulled out the lamp, and it was all Jay could do not to just lunge for it.

“I wish for all of your memories to be returned,” Razoul said, lowering his voice to sound like even more of a menace. He stepped towards Jay as he lowered the lamp, his wish already made, Jasmine and Aladdin actually stepping back in shock, and he said, “I wish.”

“For them,” he said, his voice slow as poison as he took another step towards Jay, making him step back.

“To remember,” he said, as Jay backed up against the railing, feeling for all the world like he was seven years old and his father was the one cornering him.

“Who. You. Are,” Razoul finished, getting right up in Jay’s face and grinning. It was all Jay could do not to whimper. For an all-powerful genie, he felt pretty fucking powerless.

But the lamp. Razoul. He was right there, it was _right there_ -

He grabbed too fast, and he was too clumsy, because Razoul jumped back, and Jay’s fingers didn’t do more than graze the lamp.

He’d come so close.

He felt like the world was collapsing in on him. He didn’t even know what was happening anymore. He just wanted this to _end_ . He _needed_ to get that lamp.

“As for my final wish,” Razoul said, swinging his arms out dramatically as he turned to grin at Jasmine and Aladdin. “Well, I’m sure you can all figure it out.”

He walked towards Nazira, and it felt like time slowed down and the whole world spun as Razoul lifted the knife and slit the girl’s throat.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so first of all, thank you all for all of the lovely comments!!! i really wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for y'all's support, it really means the world to me :) <3 and second of all, i'm sosososo SO sorry for taking so long to update!! i didn't mean to vanish of the face of the earth but life happens sometimes i guess. but i'm sorry!!! it won't happen again. but please, let me know what y'all think of this update!!! thanks so much for reading :) <3

**First Tuesday of August, 9:31 AM.**

Mal had tried to sleep, she really had. But the anxiety just kept spinning around in her head, and every time she closed her eyes, she was greeted with visions of bloodshed. Her mother killing her. Killing her mother. It was all so sickening, she couldn’t tell which outcome was worst anymore.

If she killed her mother, would she be able to live with herself?

Maybe not. But she had to do it anyway, just to get back to Evie, Jay, Carlos. She had to make sure that they were safe. That was all she had to do. After that… Who knew. But she couldn’t think about that. She had to focus on what was right in front of her, had to plan for tomorrow, had to be ready to  _ win _ . She had to be ready to kill.

She was not ready yet.

She still wasn’t ready when Oak finally came knocking, ready to lead her away. 

Her footsteps felt too loud as she followed the faery down the hall. It was so surreal, how the fae walked as if their feet weren’t even touching the ground at all.

Mal had expected to go straight to the isle, so she had to hide her surprise when Oak led her into a gigantic dining hall. There was a single table stretched all the way across the length of the room; it was so long that she nearly had to squint to make out the figure at the head of it.

It was the chancellor. The bitch woman that very clearly wanted her dead.

All the seats along the table were occupied except for one glaringly empty one at the chancellor’s right. Reluctantly, Mal followed Oak to that seat. When Oak pulled it out for her, Mal sat down, pointedly not looking at the chancellor.

“I hope that you enjoy your breakfast,” said the chancellor, pushing Mal’s plate closer to her, as if she hadn’t already noticed it. “Considering that it might be your last meal, we took care to ensure that it would at least be your best.” Mal could practically hear the hateful smile in the chancellor’s words.

Mal didn’t say anything; she just stabbed a piece of meat with a fork and ate. Even under the duress of torture, Mal wouldn’t confess that the food truly was the best she’d ever had.

There was the meat—Mal couldn’t tell what it was, but it was spicy and crunchy and delicious—and a bowl of sweet porridge full of berries and honey. There were delicate little plates with tiny pieces of cheese and bread and miniature cups full of sauces—some sweet, some tangy, some spicy. There were at least three different drinks sitting in front of her. One of them had the unmistakable burn of liquor to it, so Mal avoided it. She couldn’t afford to risk getting drunk on some faery alcohol before the fight. The second cup was full of a warm, sweet tea of some kind: Evie probably would have been able to tell what herb it was brewed from, but Mal had no idea. The third cup was filled to the brim with ice water, and it had to be refilled several times before breakfast was finally (and unfortunately) called to an end.

As soon as the chancellor raised her hand, the entire table stilled. Forks clattered to the table, and plates were shoved away. Mal reluctantly laid her cup back down, trying not to let her nervousness show as she finally locked eyes with the bitch queen.

The chancellor smiled as if she’d been waiting all day for Mal to look at her. Maybe she had been, fuck if Mal knew.

“Now,” said the bitch chancellor, raising her voice loud enough for the whole table to hear her, “Will the messengers please come forward? The time has arrived to send our Queen’s challenger to her fate.”

A group of six stood and slowly approached her. Again, Mal was struck at how strangely they walked. They seemed more like they hovered and glided than anything, like the motions of their legs were about as meaningful as the swaying of a human’s hands when they ran.

One of them—the faery who had defended her yesterday, although she couldn’t remember his name—smiled at her. “Mal, allow me to introduce us. We will be your escorts for your… excursion to the Isle of the Lost. We’ll only be present to supervise and to essentially ensure that this is not some sort of convoluted escape attempt.”

“Right,” Mal said dryly, “Because the biggest magical prison in the world is exactly the kind of place I envision when I think of escaping fairyland.” Mal had no idea where her brash courage had come from (she felt like she was trembling bad enough to cause an earthquake), but she was grateful for it.

One of the faeries chuckled at that: presumably another one on Mal’s side. She wondered how many of this posse was here to support her and how many wanted her dead.

“Anyways,” continued the first speaker, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “It’s time for us to be going. We’ll travel by way of a faery portal; you should see your mother as soon as we arrive. As you do, we’ll slip into shadow. We will watch the fight to ensure everything is according to fae law and to prevent you from running, but we will not interfere on behalf of either competitor so long as the fae law is upheld. Do you understand?”

“As much as I’m going to,” Mal said, shoving her chair back and standing. “How do we do this, then?”

The faery grinned at her, which gave Mal this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling she always got before a bad fight. Then he reached out to grab her hand, and everything started spinning.

\---

**First Monday of August, 10:24 PM.**

Carlos had felt fear before. He’d felt overwhelming panic, creeping dread, shredding terror. But he’d never in his life felt such a shocking, bone-deep horror as what he felt the moment that it hit him.

“They turned it off,” he whispered, his breath choked off by his own constricting throat. He thought he’d been trembling before, with anger and fear, but he’d been wrong. He felt like his whole body was made of shattering glass.

“What was that?” Uma snapped, glaring. He could see her sword glinting under the harsh moonlight, and he stared at it before a few moments before he regained his wits.

“They must have found out,” he choked out. He took a breath, tried to find his composure, to stand a little straighter. “They must have found out we left. And they must have shut it off, remotely, somehow. The Fairy Godmother probably reinforced the barrier already.”

He was trapped here. Again.

They were all trapped here. Audrey, Chad, Jane… Oh, dear god, they were all gonna fucking die.

“No,” Jane said, her voice harsh and angry. “My mother wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t trap innocent people in a place like this. She wouldn’t trap me here!”

“Apparently she would,” Audrey said, her voice cold.

Carlos could see the look in Uma’s eyes: the resigned, angry look that said she was ready to cut her losses and move on. She was going to kill them.

He did the first thing he could think of, and he fell to his knees with a thud. He fell forward, trembling hands clasped together as if in prayer.

“Please,” he said, his voice hoarse with fear. “Please, Uma. I’ll- we’ll pledge fealty, we’ll work for your crew, we’ll do anything. Don’t kill me- them- Don’t kill us, I beg of you. We can’t get you off the isle now, I’m sorry, but we can- I can still help you. We can-”

“You can’t bring me any more help than you would trouble,” Uma spat out. He could feel her sword coming to rest on the back of his neck, and his entire body froze. “What happens when the big baddies on the isle find out that there’s a batch of Auradonians under my banner? We all get fucking roasted, that’s what.”

Carlos’s brain short-circuited. He needed to save himself, save Audrey and the Auradonians, but he couldn’t think. Every last thought of survival fled his brain, and all he could see behind his eyelids were Evie and Jay and Mal. It was all he could do not to sob, not to reach for them even though he knew they weren’t there.

“No one has to know who they are.” The voice was so soft and unexpected that Carlos almost didn’t believe he’d actually heard it.

“And how could we possibly keep them a secret?” Uma hissed. Her swordpoint left Carlos’s neck, though.

“Freddie,” Hook said simply.

“No way,” Uma growled. “They aren’t worth that much to me.”

“Am I?” Harry said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Carlos hadn’t dared to so much as lift his head, but he could imagine the way Uma’s eyes would narrow, imagine her clenched jaw, her raised fist.

Harry cleared his throat, and Carlos could practically see the nervousness on his face. “If you kill them, you’ll have to kill me, too.”

There was a long silence before Uma let out a bark of laughter. “Don’t tell me you’re somehow loyal to that  _ bitch _ ,” she snapped, her amusement quickly giving way to fury. “More loyal to him than to  _ me _ ?”

“It- it’s not like that, see,” Harry said quickly, “If you killed all of them, what do you think would happen to you? Huh? I’ll bet my ass that the little fairy girl’s mother doesn’t realize that she in particular is on the isle. Do you think that the Fairy Godmother would be above murder if she found out you’d killed her daughter? Do you think any of us could do anything to stop her if she decided to take vengeance on behalf of these Auradonians?”

“Fine,” Uma growled, “But we can still kill Carlos. I doubt the Godmother would give a fuck about another Isle bitch.”

“If you kill Carlos, I’ll- I’ll kill myself,” Audrey said, her voice braver than Carlos would have expected. “And I feel absolutely certain that the Fairy Godmother would hold that against you, too. At the very least, Jane would, and I’m sure that if anyone could force the Godmother’s hand, it would be her.”

There was another long silence. The Uma growled, and grabbed Carlos by the back of his neck, yanking him up. He raised his hands to his head, afraid of an attack, but she just jerked him to his feet. “Fine. But  _ you’re _ paying the price for Freddie’s services, Hook.” Carlos could finally see Uma, and the hate in her eyes sent him reeling a step backward.

“Your wish is my command, captain,” Hook said, his voice returning to his usual sauntering, daredevil tone.

“Then fucking scram. Take care of this,” Uma said, shoving Carlos so he stumbled backward into Harry’s chest.

“As you wish, captain,” Harry said, shoving Carlos towards the gangplank and waving his hook at the other Auradonians so that they would follow.

\---

**Second Thursday of March, 632 BC, 5:32 PM.**

Evie’s arrow struck Megara right in the heart, and, as soon as it did, she knew that she’d fucked up.

The arrow glistened for a moment before it crumbled, leaving a word that Evie couldn’t quite make out splayed like a bloody tattoo over Megara’s chest. But she knew what it was, what it meant.

The bow vanished, and Evie’s heart leaped into her throat. She covered her mouth with her hands, barely restraining a sob. How could she have done that? How could she have cursed that girl like she’d been cursed? How  _ could _ she?

She hadn’t known, hadn’t thought, hadn’t realized- but she  _ should have _ , should have fucking known that the magic was in the bow, not the angel. God fucking  _ damn _ it, she should have known!

Everything turned upside down almost immediately. The man’s strength returned to him, and he lunged right at the goddess. She sidestepped him easily, but her eyes were full of shock.

“Hercules,” the goddess said, her voice somewhat desperate, “Hercules. Listen to me. I can fix all of this for you. I can undo everything that’s ever hurt you, I can-”

“And why should I trust you?” Hercules yelled, his voice savage with anger as he jumped at the goddess again. She flickered out of reality and back again, and Hercules fell right through her.

“Because you have no other choice,” the goddess snapped. “Listen to me. If you are willing to testify that Hades is the one who has burdened you all these years, if you claim Megara as your soulmate and return to Olympus, if you-”

Her speech was interrupted by a terrible, screeching wail. For a moment, Evie almost thought that it was her own, but no, it was Megara. The girl was scrambling desperately away from the goddess, reaching for Hades, her cheeks black with tears.

“I won’t go with you!” Megara screamed. “I won’t!”

The goddess stared icily at the girl for only moments before saying, “Hercules, lay the blame on Hades—the death god, who at this very moment tries to steal your rightful love from you—and you will be free. Megara will go with you, I will be sure of it. I will rid the poison from her mind so that she doesn’t even remember what has happened. You can go and live happily, forever.”

“And if I don’t?” Hercules asked, his voice dark.

“Then the Olympians will condemn me and cast me out. Hades will take your true love from you, and you will be cast away from your father, from Olympus, from all you hold dear, forced to live out a short, pitiful mortal life with nothing to make it worth living. But you could be a  _ god _ , Hercules, just listen to me!”

“No!” Megara shrieked, grabbing a stone from beneath her feet and hurling it with all her might at the goddess. It vaporized in the air before her.

Evie stared at Hercules, a terrible, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wished and wished and wished that he would turn the goddess down, but he was too still, he was too serious, he must be considering it, he… Dear gods, this was all her fault.

No wonder her father wanted nothing to do with her.

“Fine,” Hercules said, holding out a hand to the goddess. “The deal is struck, Hera.”

Hera grinned, her eyes alight with something akin to triumph. She shook his hand, and Megara screamed, and empty, terrible sound, and Evie fumbled for the locket in her pocket, unable to tear her eyes away from the girl just down the hill from her. Everything was coming crashing down, and she just wanted to run, to escape, to hide from what she’d done.

Just as she snapped the locket open, she saw Megara collapse, saw light streak through her, saw her eyes go white.

\---

**First Monday of August, 5:40 PM.**

All that Jay could hear, all he could feel, was anguish. He heard screaming, and he didn’t know if it was Jasmine’s or Aladdin’s or his or all of the above. He saw Nazira crumple, saw her choke on her own blood, saw the light leaving her eyes.

And above all of that, he could hear Razoul cackling. He could hear the words come into sharp focus as Razoul said, “I wish for you to slit your own throat, genie.”

Time slowed down again, and everything went dizzyingly slowly. Jay stood there, wobbling on his feet, facing Razoul, facing down his maniacal grin. He stood there, he just stood there and faced him. He watched Razoul’s grin twist into a pathetic snarl, a scowl, and he smiled back.

He was out of his mind.

That must have been why Aladdin figured it out first, understood what was happening before Jay did. He lunged, and they toppled over like a chess piece, and Jay felt all of the breath leave his lungs.

Before he had the chance to so much as inhale again, Aladdin had seized the lamp from Razoul, who was splayed out on the ground, panting for breath and shouting curses. He didn’t even have time to take it in, because then Aladdin was rubbing the lamp and shouting and wishing, wishing for Jay to save his daughter.

Jay was happy to comply, and he felt the magic flow easier this time, easier than when it had been forced out of him earlier. He felt it like crackling in his skin, like a river in his veins, following him wherever he wished it to go. He sewed the girl together again with just a thought, and he injected her lungs with air with just a breath, and he beat her heart into pumping with just a touch.

Nazira lay still for what felt like minutes (but it wasn’t minutes, really, Jay could tell, everything was just going so slowly, everything around him was frozen and he didn’t know how to tell the world to keep going, and he wondered if it ever would again) before her eyes fluttered open and her lungs filled with breath, and she was alive.

Everything kept happening all around Jay, too much for him to keep up with. He heard swords and guards and wishes and he could feel his magic tearing Razoul’s power away, feel the energy surging under his skin. He heard sobbing, heard everything around him, but all he could see was Nazira, all he could feel was Nazira, and how fucking  _ grateful _ he was that she was alive.

She was  _ alive _ . He hadn’t killed her. He’d  _ saved _ her.

She was alive.

Alive, alive, alive. He just kept staring, feeling like she was the only thing tethering him to the earth, until he felt a hand on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his own skin (and he felt with a sudden, terrible certainty that he could if he really wanted to, that his body was nothing more than a creature for him to inhabit now). Slowly, slowly, he turned his head away and looked up into the eyes of Aladdin, the new master of the lamp, the sultan, the man that he’d tried to kill not so long ago.

\---

**First Tuesday of August, 10:16 AM.**

Mal had not known  _ dizzy _ until this moment. Everything kept spinning around her, forever and ever, and it was truly a miracle that she didn’t hurl up that very rich breakfast she’d just had.

But suddenly, the spinning ceased, and her feet were on solid ground, and it was as if nothing happened. The faery man let go of her arm and smiled. “This is where we leave you."

All Mal could manage was a nod. Her blood was thrumming, her heart beating right out of her chest at seeing this place again. She’d known, when they left, that it hadn’t been over. She’d felt in her bones that there was unfinished business with her mother. But to be here, now, to have to resolve it… She couldn’t help the shudder crawling up her spine.

She was at the foot of the steps of the Bargain Castle, her mother’s domain. After her time in Auradon, Maleficent’s so-called castle looked all the more pitiful. For a moment, looking at the place, Mal couldn’t help but wonder why she should be afraid, anyways. Of Maleficent? The old bat had no real power  _ but _ fear. Not here.

With that thought, she stepped forward, her shoes scuffing on the well-worn steps. She shoved the door open with ease. She didn’t see any goblins, though; somehow, her mother must have been expecting her.

She knew it wasn’t logical to assume that, knew that there could be any other number of reasons for the goblins’ absence, but she just felt the truth in her bones.

The massive foyer might once have sent a shiver down her spine. It was meant to intimidate, to remind visitors what Maleficent could do. To remind them of the powers she’d once had. But even the skeletons hanging from the staircase couldn’t strike fear into Mal’s bones; those people had died in any way but magic, and none had died at her mother’s hand. They said nothing about Maleficent’s power and everything about her weakness.

She didn’t feel brave, not really, as she approached the sweeping staircase to go searching for her mother. She mostly felt numb to fear. But she supposed that was sort of the same thing when it really came down to it.

“Finally,” hissed a voice, and fear tingled across Mal’s neck again. No one could scare her like her mother could.

“Finally, what?” Mal kept her voice as quiet as her mother’s had been and scanned the room, looking for the source of the voice.

“You’ve come to kill me,” Maleficent said, grinning as she stepped out of the shadows. Mal’s neck tingled, wondering how she seemed to have come right out of nowhere.

Mal lifted her chin, forced herself not to step back, wondered why she hadn’t grabbed a weapon before coming in here. She’d never been that stupid before. Had that single day in Auradon softened her up that badly?

“I have,” she said, trying to sound more powerful and fierce than she suddenly felt. Inside, she felt like she was crumbling away. Her heart was beating so fast she could barely breathe.

Maleficent laughed deeply, like Mal had never heard her laugh before. She sounded… triumphant.

“Why is that, dear?”

Mal just stared at her for a moment. There was this sensation creeping up the back of her neck, screaming screaming  _ screaming _ at her that something was very, very wrong. She couldn’t collect her thoughts well enough to say what.

“It’s that pack of yours, isn’t it?” Maleficent asked, stepping closer to Mal. As much as Mal wanted to look brave, she wasn’t, and she backed away, her hands beginning to tremble. “What were their names? Hmm.” Maleficent put a finger to her lips as if thinking. “Jay? Evie? Carlos?” Maleficent grinned, and Mal felt herself shrink away again, nearly falling over backward with the force of it. “You want to find them? You want to protect them? Let me tell you something.” Maleficent leaned in, whispering in Mal’s ear, “You never will.”

Mal’s legs gave out from under her, and she toppled backward, rolling down the stairs. Everything around her felt like it was disappearing. The world was being erased before her very eyes. She gasped for air and couldn’t find any. She wondered what was happening.

There were voices, and as they got louder, they got quieter. She felt a slithering along her arm, and she heard screaming, and she felt dizzy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all, i am so sorry for taking so long to update! it took me long for a couple of reasons, one being that i meant to make this chapter longer (i meant to actually have mal and evie make appearances in it lol), but ultimately that would have just taken me even longer and i wanted to give y'all something to read. and generally it's just been a long few months; i have a chronic health condition that's been flaring up really bad on and off, so it's been really hard to write for awhile, especially while also trying to juggle schoolwork and everything. weirdly, thanks to covid-19 i have more free time, which is a big contributor to why i was finally able to get a substantial amount of work done on this. but i just really want you guys to know that your comments mean the WORLD to me and they're basically the only thing that's kept me working on this fic. it makes me so so happy to hear y'all's thoughts about my story, and i love talking to all of y'all about it!! you all inspire me, every day. so thank you <3

**First Monday of August, 9:09 PM.**

Lonnie was pacing. She had been pacing for at least ten minutes now, or however long it had been since Audrey and everyone else had left. Phoebus was sitting on a nearby bench, palms pressed together, probably praying. They’d decided to wait outside where they’d last left everyone, just in case something happened and the group came right back. Like, if the device hadn’t worked, or something like that.

Besides, Lonnie was too anxious to just head back to her dorm. She figured that Phoebus probably felt the same way.

She still wanted to tell her parents about this crazy situation. At the very least, maybe they could reassure her. She truly didn’t believe that they would do anything to hurt any of the isle kids. They didn’t even approve of the Isle of the Lost, not really. They’d been strongly opposed to bringing back Shan Yu just to lock him up; after all, dead is dead, and why would you risk him breaking out and attacking again? But they’d been outvoted, and they couldn’t defy the rules unless they wanted to defect from the States, which would have sent their entire world into turmoil.

That was all justifiable. It was true, sometimes, Lonnie thought that maybe her parents had messed up. Maybe they could have done something differently; maybe they could have opposed the whole isle thing more strongly. At the very least, couldn’t they have done something for the isle kids? Lonnie had no strong compassion for Carlos, god, he was such an asshole, but… He’d been even younger once. There were still kids, young kids, three and five and nine and twelve, all locked up with the worst people on the planet. Shouldn’t somebody have done something about that?

But Lonnie was sure that her parents had their reasons. After all, Lonnie couldn’t think of any reasonable measure for actually taking care of those kids. They couldn’t take them off of the isle en masse without risking the villains escaping, too. Even releasing the recent four had been a massive risk, one that Lonnie still wasn’t sure was justified. Sending more supplies to the isle wouldn’t have helped, because those resources would have just gone to the baddies; kids wouldn’t have gotten their hands on anything valuable.

All in all, she trusted her parents. But… she had to understand why Carlos wouldn’t trust them. She wouldn’t concede that he had a point, but maybe it was too out of her way anyways when her parents might… just not do anything. Not that they would not do anything out of malice, but, well, what could they even do?

God, Lonnie was getting a headache. She sighed and stopped her pacing, looking out in the direction that Audrey and Jane and Carlos and Chad had gone.

“I don’t think they’re going to come back.” Phoebus’s voice was so sudden that it made her jump.

She nodded, crossing her arms. He was probably right. But still, she wanted to be doing something! She couldn’t just go back to her room, couldn’t just go back and sleep.

It must have shown on her face, because Phoebus sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. She’d never seen him look so… resigned before. He’d always struck her as the brave, funny type. He was a hero, not only for his courage but for his heart. But now he just looked sad and weary.

“Maybe… we could do something more,” she said quietly.

Phoebus’s eyebrows lifted. “Like what?”

It sounded crazy, she knew she was crazy, but she couldn’t help saying it. “Maybe we could go look for Jay. In Agrabah. I mean, at least we might have a start, and maybe we could even talk to Aladdin and Jasmine- not to give anything away, just to… see if they know anything. We could… I don’t know. Help.”

Phoebus snorted. “How exactly would we get to Agrabah?”

It didn’t slip Lonnie’s notice that his question suggested he was actually considering it, so she paused to make sure that she came up with a reasonable answer. She had this feeling in her gut, that powerful and brave feeling she got whenever she started to plan something reckless.

“We could fly. I mean, I have enough cash saved up for one ticket, at least, probably.” It was a tenuous possibility, but it was a possibility.

To her shock, Phoebus started to nod. “I’ll cover both tickets. If we leave now, we can be in the capital by morning.”

Lonnie’s entire face split into a grin. “We’re actually doing this?”

Phoebus nodded again, standing up. “Let’s go.”

\---

**First Monday of August, 5:43 PM.**

“Come on, breathe,” Aladdin said, his voice far away and fuzzy. Suddenly, Jay realized that he was about to fucking hyperventilate. Everything was muddled and blurry and he felt like he couldn’t breathe, but he forced himself to swallow a few slow, deep breaths. He forced himself to calm down.

Aladdin nodded down at him, reluctantly moving his hand from Jay’s shoulder. Jay just stared up at him.

And then Jasmine was falling to her knees beside him, grabbing Nazira and cradling her to her chest. Jasmine was sobbing, but Nazira just looked shell-shocked.

Then it was Jay’s turn to be shocked as Jasmine gently released her daughter, stroking her hair, only to pull Jay into the most painfully tight hug that he’d ever received in his life.

“Thank you,” whispered Jasmine, “oh god… Oh, thank you, oh, you have no idea… My god.”

She was still mumbling unintelligibly when she pulled away. And he was going to let it go, chalk it up to the hysteria that’s basically inevitable after a scene like this, but then she paused and just looked at him. And there was something in her expression… Suddenly Jay knew he was missing something.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked quietly, shifting uncomfortably away.

The answer hit him like a bolt of lightning to the chest. The magic wasn’t shivery this time; it was painful. He flinched away as he felt it, his vision going white as he saw everything.

_ “I told you that you would pay,” Razoul cackled, leaning over a terrified Jasmine. Aladdin was right behind her, brandishing a knife, but they all knew that it wouldn’t do any good. _

_ Jasmine spit in Razoul’s face, and his demeanor shifted from cocky victory to pure fury. He grabbed her by the hair and shook her as she screamed at him. Aladdin lunged to attack, but Razoul wielded Jasmine like a human shield, lifting a knife of his own to her neck. “Not one more step!” _

_ “You won’t get away with this! You can’t do this!” Jasmine yelled. She clawed at his face, trying to twist out of his grip. _

_ It was at that moment that Jay noticed Jafar, standing right behind Razoul, holding a bundle of blankets in one arm. His skin was bloodred, and he was hovering above the ground, only half of a human. Where he should have had legs, there was only smoke. _

_ Razoul drew blood from Jasmine’s chin, laughing maniacally as she finally stilled, breathing heavily. “Of course I’m getting away with it! You won’t even remember this by the time we’re gone!” _

_ That was when the bundle of blankets in Jafar’s arm started to wail, and Jay finally understood what he was holding. It only took a few moments for Jafar to magic the sound away, but it was long enough to send Jasmine into a screaming rage again. _

_ In about as much time as it would take to blink, Razoul released Jasmine, stepped back, and vanished, along with the genie and the baby. Jasmine  _ howled _ , like someone had just ripped her heart out of her chest. Before she could even empty her lungs, she stopped, blinking, looking confused. Aladdin slowly lowered his knife, brows furrowed. _

_ They looked at each other. _

_ “What just happened?” Jasmine asked, her voice hoarse from screaming. _

_ “I don’t know,” Aladdin said quietly, setting his knife on a dresser, shaking his head and shaking off whatever tension was left from everything that had just happened. “Let’s go to bed.” _

_ Jasmine nodded. _

“Oh,” Jay whispered. He suddenly didn’t find himself capable of looking up at the two of them. Suddenly, he felt like the most vulnerable person in the world. A shudder of electricity crawled up his spine.

He couldn’t help it. That vulnerability made him itch for a weapon. He couldn’t help how he turned back to Aladdin, eyes landing on the lamp.

“Can I please have that?” he asked quietly, carefully not making eye contact.

Aladdin stammered something out that Jay couldn’t quite understand and handed the lamp to him. Jay grabbed it gratefully, holding on to it like it was a lifeline. It sort of was.

“What’s going on?” Nazira asked. Jay almost flinched at how loud her voice was in the deafening silence.

Instead of answering, Jay slowly lifted himself to his feet. His hands were shaking, but he gripped the lamp tightly. He took a step back and wondered if he could just disappear.

_ Of course you can _ , said a voice in the back of his head.

“Jay,” Jasmine whispered, and Jay almost flinched. “Oh, Jay, I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said quickly, suddenly wanting to put more distance between himself and… these people. He wasn’t really sure what he was feeling, only that he was overwhelmed by it.

He was also just starting to notice how much of an overwhelming pain he was in. Everything ached, and it all just compounded the tension in his chest.

“We have everything to be sorry for,” Jasmine said, stepping forward and reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. “We lost you.”

Aladdin started to reach for him, too, and that’s when Jay finally met their eyes.

That’s when Jay disappeared.

\---

**First Monday of August, 10:49 PM.**

Freddie hadn’t been expecting company. She definitely had not been expecting Harry Hook with Carlos DeVil and a bunch of misfits that she didn’t even recognize. She  _ definitely _ had not been expecting to hear that those misfits were a bunch of mainland hotshots.

“How did they even get over here?” She marveled, not bothering to get up from her porch swing as she studied the group, arms crossed. She studied the Auradonians especially closely. The shortest was a girl who looked as angry as she did frightened; she definitely didn’t strike Freddie as a threat. Of course, people could be surprising, but this girl seemed like the type to run before she would strike. Her origins only further instilled Freddie’s belief she was right on that part. The other girl was taller and more intimidating, although still not even close to intimidating enough for the isle. She had a strange look in her eyes… Freddie could tell she had intelligence to her, but there was also something important she knew. She looked almost… vulnerable. She had her arms crossed protectively across her chest; that’s what was giving that away. The other one was a boy, who looked about as physically imposing as Carlos did. Of course, Freddie knew that Carlos was a menace, so that hardly meant anything, but she seriously doubted that some Auradon royal would have as much fire in his veins as the DeVil.

“A device that apparently stopped working at their arrival,” Harry said.

Carlos added, “We took a flying car. Used a device of the Fairy Godmother’s to open and shut the barrier, but… Now it won’t open.”

“Funny,” Freddie said, “So why are you here?”

“Since we can’t leave-” Carlos started.

“They need disguises. They need to go unrecognized, or else…”

Freddie nodded, holding back a grin. Or else the isle baddies would fucking eat them alive.

“Who are they?” Freddie asked. Just as Harry opened his mouth to answer, she added, “Who are they related to, I mean.”

“I’m Fairy Godmother’s daughter,” said the short, mousy girl. She sounded like she was trying to be indignant and menacing, but it definitely wasn’t working.

“‘M Chad. Cinderella’s daughter,” said the blonde boy. He had a low, drawling accent.

There was a long pause as everyone waited for the last girl to introduce herself, but she couldn’t seem to get her mouth open. Finally, Chad added, “That’s Audrey, daughter of the Sleeping Beauty.” Audrey shifted uncomfortably, dangling one arm but keeping the other crossed over her chest. She didn’t meet Freddie’s eyes, and that’s when she saw-

“Why do you have my tag tattooed on your arm, princess?” Freddie asked calmly, leaning back and pulling out her cards to shuffle them. It always seemed to make people nervous, as if she was about to somehow slit their necks with a fuckin’ tarot card.

The princess opened her mouth, then shut it.

“It’s an Auradon thing,” Carlos finally said. “A magic thing. Everyone’s born with some kind of mark, and a name. Supposed to be their soulmate.” He holds out his wrists, which have the names of his former gang emblazoned on them. “We got these as soon as we got outside the barrier.”

“Soulmate?” Freddie asked quietly. She was already flipping through her memory, trying to recall what she’d read from some book or another years ago about magic bonds.

Carlos shrugged. “That’s what they call it.”

“Interesting,” Freddie said slowly.

“So what’s your price?” Harry asked gruffly. “For the disguises.”

“Well,” Freddie said, “There’s the price you’ve got to pay my friends and then the price I’m going to collect. Think of it as... interest.” She smiled sharply, and no one smiled back. “If any of you ever find a way off of the isle, you’ll either take me with you or not leave at all. And you’ll swear that to my friends, so that you know there will be swift and terrible punishment if you break your vow. That’s my price.”

“Absolutely not!” blustered the little fairy girl. “We’re not taking away anyone who deserves to be here, and as someone who practices such dark magic, you, of all people, do not deserve to leave!”

Freddie smiled thinly. “Then I’m sure that you must be too opposed to using my ‘dark magic’-” Freddie made air quotes, “-to take me up on my deal anyway, right, sugar?”

The girl glared and opened her mouth to retort, but the princess beat her to it.

“We’ll take it,” she said quickly, like she was afraid she’d snatch the words back if she waited too long.

Freddie looked at the blonde boy.

He shrugged. “You have as much right to leave as Carlos, or any of the other kids here. If I could, I’d take a bunch of you out of this hellhole anyways.”

Freddie’s eyebrows nearly shot right off the top of her head. She quickly covered her surprise with a grin and said, “Who knew. Even the righteous Auradonians swear.”

“What’s your friends’ price?” Carlos asked, his voice hushed.

Freddie shrugged, grinning wider. “Just some dancing and some blood.”

“How much blood?” Carlos asked quickly.

“Just a prick,” Freddie said sweetly.

“A prick where?” Carlos asked. He was insightful, that one. A prick in the jugular vein would be  _ very _ different from a prick in the fingertip.

“Just your finger,” Freddie said. “I don’t want y’all hurt; if you were, how would you fulfill your bargain for me?”

A solemn silence passed over the group.

Audrey took a deep breath, then said, “So how do we make this oath to your… friends?”

Freddie grinned.

\---

**First Monday of August, 6:01 PM.**

Jay didn’t know exactly how far he had made it before he’d collapsed, but he knew he was still in the castle. He’d felt like a ghost, invisibly stumbling down halls and stairs until he’d found refuge, running from his newfound reality.

Running from his fucking  _ parents _ . His  _ fucking _ parents! As if his life couldn’t get any more messy and fucked up and complicated!

But here he was, collapsed in some weird random parlor, curled up a few feet away from the fancy-looking lounge he’d been trying to get to, knees curled into his chest. Everything just hurt  _ so much _ , and he couldn’t even think through it. Was just trying to breathe through it.

Definitely couldn’t magic through it. The prickling sensation under his skin had intensified to this angry burning, and he felt like he was on fire all over. There was a stabbing feeling in his shoulder like someone had lodged a knife there and started twisting it.

Fucking hell, he couldn’t even keep track of all the pain. It jumped everywhere, all over him, so fast. He could feel himself detaching, trying to float away, trying to leave his body, but the sensations only intensified when he tried to use his magic. He was stuck in this physical form, he was stuck with this pain, but his mind was still floating somewhere else. He felt dizzy with sensation.

Everything had gone to hell so fast. Except everything had been in hell already,  _ he _ had been in hell his  _ entire. fucking. life. _

His hips hurt like his bones were trying to weasel their way out through his skin. His head hurt like his brain was thudding along with his heartbeat. His hands hurt like they were just being gouged over and over again with needles.

He couldn’t stand this. He couldn’t take this. Oh god, how was he going to survive this?

He only barely registered the sound of a door opening behind him, but he flinched when someone touched his shoulder. He had to grind his teeth to keep himself from audibly moaning in pain. Fuck, how had someone found him already? He wasn’t safe like this. He couldn’t protect himself, he needed to get…

“Jay?”

It was Nazira. He couldn’t bring himself to respond.

“Are you okay?”

Her words were too loud, ringing in his skull like a gong.

He nodded and shifted away, weakly trying to move so he could at least put his back against the side of the weird lounge sofa thing. So he could at least face her, face whoever might have followed her, defend himself.

The next time she spoke, the words didn’t hurt his head quite as much. “Why did you run?”

He stared at her, letting all the pain catch up to him and roll over him like a wave. He just sat there through it, waiting for it to subside, then he said, “Didn’t know what else to do.” The way he felt, he expected his voice to come out raspy and pained, but it sounded… Clear. Completely normal.

He could feel the pain pulling back a little, feel it subsiding somewhat. He almost started to cry with relief.

“Oh,” Nazira said quietly. He was too consumed to come up with a response.

The door swung open a little wider, and in stepped Jasmine. Aladdin. His… parents. God, he was not going to call them that. He was not ready to think through all of that right now.

He was also definitely not ready for them to see him like this. He was so vulnerable and in danger, but what could he even do about it?

The pain eased a little more, and he let out a little breath of relief. He wanted to stand, to seem a little more in control, but he didn’t want to push his luck and have the pain come back.

“Jay?” Jasmine’s voice was immediately concerned. “Jay? What’s wrong? We’re so sorry if- We didn’t mean to startle you or frighten you away.”

“I don’t think that’s it, mama,” Nazira said quietly.

Jay forced himself to stand. He was hit with a wave of dizziness and nausea, but he held on to the sofa behind him and used it to keep himself firmly planted to the ground. He waited for the sensations to subside before he locked eyes with Jasmine and said firmly, “I’m fine.” And he would be, as soon as he had the opportunity to be alone and recover.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.


End file.
